What did this game do well?
****************************
I liked this games concept and the effects. I think it was a good use of the theme.
I loved the game feel effects in this game. Everything worked very well together - again the SFX really made this a great experience. The golf swing sound was perfect, and I really like that it changed based on swing power level. The screen shake at a powerful level too was very tasteful and didn't make the gameplay difficult at all. This game felt very crisp, and I wasn't able to see any bugs during my session.
The simple pixel art, green colors, bright sky, and chirping birds really gave the correct sense of 'golfing simulator'. The power meter is a classic component in golf games and felt right at home here.
Towards the end of my play session, I got super good at spamming the swing button and moving my mouse at just the right speed to get a bunch of golf balls to go in in a row, which was a lot of fun to play around with. I also had a lot of fun hitting a ball at medium speed and trying to hit it in mid-air on my next swing too. It's really cool that the game enabled play mechanisms beyond 'just hit it in the hole'
The game is simple but the sound effects make the gameplay feel really smooth and good.
The physics and simple mechanics of this game were very well implemented, it made playing the simulator interesting and fun.
I like the screen shake when hit the balls. It really gives a sense of 'hitting something', and it is very satisfying. Like those balls row in different way when you hit it using different strength. Also, like the way the ball can interact with the others.
I love the simplicity and the background nature noise. Its very chill and easy to play. I love how toggling the game feel elements does change the feel especially hitting the golf ball.
The game feel and the BGM is relaxing, especially when the ball gets into the hole, the VFX is satisfying.
========================================
What could this game have done better?
****************************
I think the screen shake could have worked better for when the shot makes it into the hole.
I didn't immediately figure out that I needed to aim with my mouse as well as the power meter. The power meter was immediately obvious, but the mouse less so. Having the golf club on the player move with mouse quickly made this clear though.
It didn't always make sense to me when the dirt particles for hitting a ground ball were supposed to occur. Sometimes I saw them, sometimes i didn't. I would expect them to occur whenever a golf ball hit the ground, but it seemed to only happen sometimes at the place of the swing. Overall this was a great game that demonstrated game feel really well!
The background is a little confusing. The goal is in the background but it doesn't seem like you are trying to hit it into it.
As was said in class, the 2D-3D background messes with the player's head. The ball flies as if it is on a 2D plane, but the hole looks to be in the background in a 3D space. It is then confusing to see the ball enter the hole. When the ball does enter, the 3D illusion shatters, and it seems as if the hole is just floating in space on the 2D plane.
Maybe add a little timer to prevent the player from hitting another balls when the balls are flying. Right now, it is kind of easy to hit in the hole, because player can hit like a Machine gun
I felt if you figured out where to put the cursor it became easy, so maybe making it a bit harder and more dependent on timing would make it fun
An advice to make the game varied: the hole can be placed randomly at different place of the screen