great art and style, very nice pixel art all around. Sadly I didn't enjoy your game at all.
random stuff I noted:
- if you hold left click on a mission to select, the *button selected* audio will trigger every frame
- equip section needs to divide weapons from gadgets. Also tell me if a skill is passive (like solar panel, I know it seems redundant)
- hull critical/low battery sound are super annoying, imo make them optional (ofc add audio options asap, your music is blasting)
Why I didn't like yor game:
- movement is not very fun, traversal is not very fun (dash is fun but it seems bugged since it can push you through the whole level).
- What killed my enjoynment is the wait. 3-4 hits to kill an enemy, and your shot has a 2-3s cd. Melee is better, sure, but it also has a long cd. So most of your play is wait to shoot. I can understand the philosophy of submarine combat, but here there is no tension; and it's not tactical. It's a pretty happy game where you kill car sized squid/crabs. How can you make it boring?
Thanks for the much needed feedback, I'll have to go back to the drawing board to make the mechanics more engaging. If you don't mind I have a couple of questions.
When you say transversal movement is bad you mean going up or down? Some people said the movement is slow but it is the same speed as the horizontal movement, I think the parallax background may give the feeling that the player is moving too slow. Did the dash break collisions or do you mean its too fast when compared to regular movement?
Also there is a way to lower sfx in the options menu but I think you mean to disable the alarm entirely which I could totally add.
When you say transversal movement is bad you mean going up or down?
It's not fun because it's empty. It's not fun because there is no choice to do, nothing to collect or dodge(monsters mostly mind their business and deal almost no dmg) or button to press when you go from A to B. Your game right now is the equivalent of an empty mario level.
Some people said the movement is slow but it is the same speed as the horizontal movement, I think the parallax background may give the feeling that the player is moving too slow.
It's also the big amount of nothing of your level design. If you wanna make a first level a tutorial area is fine, but there is no reason to make it this big beyond wasting player time
Did the dash break collisions or do you mean its too fast when compared to regular movement?
it's too fast and works for too much. Go see any dash from any game. Even racers have more restraint.
I think you mean to disable the alarm entirely.
yep
My suggestion is to see a longplay (but better if you pick up an emulator and you play them) of Ecco the dolphin games. Also think of the mood of your game should give, it's joyful? It's terror of the abyss?
Only played the first mission once. At one point I was so bored, I started daydreaming and forgot about the game.
movement sound is terrible, I had to mute the game
"Z" ability requires specific keyboard layout to make sense without rebinding
The default ability on C is a passive? I was looking for it to do something but no idea where to look. If it's an active ability it didn't seem to do anything. If it's a passive, the UI doesn't give any indication.
Combat feedback is almost non-existent. Had no idea how to position myself (do melee attacks connect when the enemies are on top of me?), nor would I know if I actually hit the enemy.
vertical movement is so slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow
Thanks for playing and the video. I'm pretty sure the equipment screen shows which equipments are passive or active thought I think some sort of visual queue is in order during the hunt. About the 'z' control, what other bind would you suggest?
No idea about the equipment screen. I just used whatever was default. The right arrow was the boost, but the solar panel next to it looks like an active ability as well, since there is no visual distinction. Compare that to abilities on cooldown which are greyed out.
Having "Y" as an additional key can work. Not sure if that would cover all the different keyboard layouts. 1234 as ATK1, ATK2, AB1, AB2 can also work as an additional set. Or simply X.
Personally, I don't like ZXCV as main input, as they're quite close to space (weird hand position) and easy to mix up without some sort of anchor (like the knob on the F key or the default hand position when the pinky rests on Shift). Rebinding is king.
Nice faux NES graphics, sound is good to except for the "swimming" one which is really obnoxious. The game kind of reminds me of the old NES Jaws game.
Don't seem to be able to either use only the mouse or only the keyboard in menus, have to change between the two which is annoying.
Text going slightly outside of the boxes sometimes.
No resume button in the pause menu, well maybe its not needed.
Arrow keys are not changing options in the pause menu, SFX still plays.
It dropped me in right on top of an enemy.
Enemies don't really seem to do anything if you keep your distance and fire at them.
Enemies need a satisfying kill animation and effect.
Is this gonna be a more classic "level based" game or more roguelike style?
Thanks por playing and for the feedback. UI is still a work in progress, can't select stuff with keyboard in the equip scene but the pause one should be working, will look into it.
To answer your question its going to be mostly level based, although the first level is still really empty, will be adding obstacles and other stuff.
But the shark is so clunky to control, especially the vertical acceleration and deceleration is so slow, it takes forever to maneuver to the level of whatever target you want to kill.
The chainsaw made short work of the crabs but it took me a while to figure out how to use the equipment screen because this happened.
Thanks man, I've been trying to replicate that bug all day and your pic helped me crack whats going on. On the clunkiness, I'm tempted to reduce the water resistance or increase melee range from all the feedback I've gotten, but I'll try different approaches before making the choice. As a diver, I was trying to replicate the complications of keeping the right level but I understand that idea might not be fun.
Comments
great art and style, very nice pixel art all around. Sadly I didn't enjoy your game at all.
random stuff I noted:
- if you hold left click on a mission to select, the *button selected* audio will trigger every frame
- equip section needs to divide weapons from gadgets. Also tell me if a skill is passive (like solar panel, I know it seems redundant)
- hull critical/low battery sound are super annoying, imo make them optional (ofc add audio options asap, your music is blasting)
Why I didn't like yor game:
- movement is not very fun, traversal is not very fun (dash is fun but it seems bugged since it can push you through the whole level).
- What killed my enjoynment is the wait. 3-4 hits to kill an enemy, and your shot has a 2-3s cd. Melee is better, sure, but it also has a long cd. So most of your play is wait to shoot. I can understand the philosophy of submarine combat, but here there is no tension; and it's not tactical. It's a pretty happy game where you kill car sized squid/crabs. How can you make it boring?
Thanks for the much needed feedback, I'll have to go back to the drawing board to make the mechanics more engaging. If you don't mind I have a couple of questions.
When you say transversal movement is bad you mean going up or down? Some people said the movement is slow but it is the same speed as the horizontal movement, I think the parallax background may give the feeling that the player is moving too slow. Did the dash break collisions or do you mean its too fast when compared to regular movement?
Also there is a way to lower sfx in the options menu but I think you mean to disable the alarm entirely which I could totally add.
It's not fun because it's empty. It's not fun because there is no choice to do, nothing to collect or dodge(monsters mostly mind their business and deal almost no dmg) or button to press when you go from A to B. Your game right now is the equivalent of an empty mario level.
It's also the big amount of nothing of your level design. If you wanna make a first level a tutorial area is fine, but there is no reason to make it this big beyond wasting player time
it's too fast and works for too much. Go see any dash from any game. Even racers have more restraint.
yep
My suggestion is to see a longplay (but better if you pick up an emulator and you play them) of Ecco the dolphin games. Also think of the mood of your game should give, it's joyful? It's terror of the abyss?
Oh you meant traversing okay.
"monsters mind their business" you mean they didn't chase you if you get close or attack you or answer to fire? They do as far as I playtested.
Ecco the dolphin is not really something I'm taking inspiration from.
Only played the first mission once. At one point I was so bored, I started daydreaming and forgot about the game.
Can't say more about the mechanics.
The rest looks coherent and good.
No commentary video.
Thanks for playing and the video. I'm pretty sure the equipment screen shows which equipments are passive or active thought I think some sort of visual queue is in order during the hunt. About the 'z' control, what other bind would you suggest?
No idea about the equipment screen. I just used whatever was default. The right arrow was the boost, but the solar panel next to it looks like an active ability as well, since there is no visual distinction. Compare that to abilities on cooldown which are greyed out.
Having "Y" as an additional key can work. Not sure if that would cover all the different keyboard layouts. 1234 as ATK1, ATK2, AB1, AB2 can also work as an additional set. Or simply X.
Personally, I don't like ZXCV as main input, as they're quite close to space (weird hand position) and easy to mix up without some sort of anchor (like the knob on the F key or the default hand position when the pinky rests on Shift). Rebinding is king.
Nice faux NES graphics, sound is good to except for the "swimming" one which is really obnoxious. The game kind of reminds me of the old NES Jaws game.
Don't seem to be able to either use only the mouse or only the keyboard in menus, have to change between the two which is annoying.
Text going slightly outside of the boxes sometimes.
No resume button in the pause menu, well maybe its not needed.
Arrow keys are not changing options in the pause menu, SFX still plays.
It dropped me in right on top of an enemy.
Enemies don't really seem to do anything if you keep your distance and fire at them.
Enemies need a satisfying kill animation and effect.
Is this gonna be a more classic "level based" game or more roguelike style?
Thanks por playing and for the feedback. UI is still a work in progress, can't select stuff with keyboard in the equip scene but the pause one should be working, will look into it.
To answer your question its going to be mostly level based, although the first level is still really empty, will be adding obstacles and other stuff.
I love the sprites and and the idea isn't bad.
But the shark is so clunky to control, especially the vertical acceleration and deceleration is so slow, it takes forever to maneuver to the level of whatever target you want to kill.
The chainsaw made short work of the crabs but it took me a while to figure out how to use the equipment screen because this happened.
Thanks man, I've been trying to replicate that bug all day and your pic helped me crack whats going on.
On the clunkiness, I'm tempted to reduce the water resistance or increase melee range from all the feedback I've gotten, but I'll try different approaches before making the choice. As a diver, I was trying to replicate the complications of keeping the right level but I understand that idea might not be fun.