Post by Sanguine-Oni in Update - 13 comments

Viewing post in Update - 13 comments

Glad to see you're still working on this, but it is still far too unbalanced in the AI's favor. Pretty much, you are obligated to keep hitting retry until you spawn in the ONLY spot that gives you ANY chance of surviving. And even then, you have to PRAY the AI doesn't go full-on accuracy mode in the first two turns. 1 v 3 worked in the original Worms games (I've been playing since the PC release of Worms 2 in the 90's) because they cut the enemy HP down by 50% to balance it. 1 v 8 they cut it down by 75%. You can't expect us to bare bones a 1 v 3 while flanked from both sides. Hell, in one of the first three stages you can be locked out of a win because you can spawn on the far left and it is too low a spot to hit the enemy in the upper right even at full charge, so you literally start in an unwinnable game since the map is spaced with pits too wide to leap over to get close enough.

Also, the fact you can only hit the testicles is a MAJOR issue. The hit box is so damned small compared to the "character model". Watching the shots travel through the 'torso' is infuriating.

Please fix the balance and make the full 'worm' an object for hit detection. I've been with you since the day you posted the game, but every update has been a let down for me because the balance is still so horrendous in nearly every level.

Nomen Nantoka123 days ago

Thanks for your feedback. Its pretty difficult to balance the game since I’m so familiar with the mechanics and AI so any criticism around that is welcome. I'll go back through all the maps and give them a re-balance at some point. The AI has changed a lot and are less prone to hurting themselves so some of the older maps are probably harder than intended. If there are any particularly bad spawn points let me know and ill change them or limit them to AI only.

Projectiles only collide with the terrain at the moment. This was because the terrain wouldn't get damaged much when hitting worms directly and that's the main focus of the game. I'll play around with the collisions though and see if i can come up with something i like.

Sanguine-Oni122 days ago

MOST of the spawn points are horrible. In most maps I only see ONE spot where you can have any chance of surviving, as I said. I'll be honest, it was so bad that outside the custom map and the first five maps, I didn't even bother playing again. It as too much of me spamming 'restart' just by looking at the map and seeing how the placement was and going 'nope. Zero chance of victory there'. Also, did you mean to say "unfamiliar" with the mechanics of Worms? Because, no offence, it seems that is what you meant and I want to be sure. Because, if you did mean such, I can certainly assist as a veteran Worms player. My bro and I LIVED on those games on the PS1, releases and on the Xbox 360. I can definitely give pointers where needed.

Making the terrain be the focal point is fine, but it is going to severely destroy balancing your game and turns what should be a fun Gorilla (the original Worms was inspired by) style combat game into an infuriating mess - UNLESS you change the concept from a combat-focused game into a puzzle game by strategically placing worms like the OG Worms puzzle maps did. What I imply is make the worms 'sticky' (immobile) and have infinite HP on both you and the AI then place them on thin bridge-like areas you blow up to make them fall into an abyss or water.

One last little feedback, the custom map... Loved how it had random weapon drops... but definitely needs a way to toggle them and hold them for strategic purpose and a 'this is what the weapon is'. I picked up two, and both times wasted them due to not knowing what they did. Shot the laser into the air thinking it would be a boost to my bazooka damage, and then blew myself up thinking the other was another laser. Also, did like how her eyes follow you in that map. Was a fun little gimmick to see. Though, would be better if she looked like her face was conflicted like 'um... the f is happening on me'? lol Joking, btw. Don't make them all look horrified. Would be amusing but not needed.

Nomen Nantoka122 days ago

I'm guessing you mean the maps after the first five in the "Normal" set? Have you tried any of the maps from the other sets? they have different progress so the first map of each set is unlocked by default. I'll look into re-balancing map 6 and up from the Normal set first.

I meant I'm overly familiar with my own game. Its hard to balance things when you know exactly how everything works. The Worms games were of course an inspiration but this isn't meant to be a clone or anything.

I'm experimenting with changing the projectile collisions including head-shots. Different game modes are a good idea, I’ll look into making some puzzle maps.

The default Custom map is just an example for making custom maps. It has all of the weapons available and the spawn rate isn't paced very well. The regular maps that have weapons (mostly the "Ghouls" set) have a much lower spawn rate so hopefully isn't as confusing. I will look into adding something like an inventory though to make it better when there are multiple pickups available.

Sanguine-Oni120 days ago

No, I didn't try any other maps because, I'll be honest, when you originally released the game it was so infuriating and unfun at the time I gave up after the fourth map but I decided to give it some time to stew and see where it went. Then, I waited for a few more updates, deciding to play again recently. I tried the Custom map and then Map 5 (and maybe 6?) on Normal and saw the same issues were still there, (although the jumping mechanic had been fixed and greatly improved) so I gave up again. It is just, to me, a SUPER unbalanced and highly unfun affair to endure as it is. Having to constantly choose 'retry' because the enemies can group up on you so easily, sometimes killing you after one turn is not my idea of fun, sorry. Random enemy and character placement only works when there is a balance. If you don't want me associating it with Worms, then maybe don't use the name in the title, because that gives players like me the idea it will work similar to Worms. To that effect, again, random worm placement worked in those games because of the arsenal you could start with and ability to toggle them, as well as setting modifiers such as your worm having twice the health of the others, or you and the enemy having the same number of worms. 1 V 3 is never going to be fair or fun in the concept you are attempting to make it. This is Ragebait Worms as it is now; for sadists who love to endure games like Getting Over It but Worms style.

Just tried Ghost maps. Ghost 3 already has the issue with 1 V 3 and worm placement. Especially if you spawn at the bottom right of the map. No offense, but did you test play your game in a way where you tried to play from each spawn point? Because, in Normal (I think map 3?) if you spawn in the bottom left your attacks don't reach the worm in the upper right. Ever. The full charge doesn't even come close to reaching that distance. And then, in Ghost 3 we have a similar issue if you spawn in the bottom right, let alone the two upper worms can decide to be highly functional and end you easily regardless as to the position.

But, that's fine. I wanted to like this and hoped you planned to fix things. But your statement of saying it isn't planned to be like Worms is enough for me to say our convo will end here. I'll just uninstall and move on. Best of luck. seriously. Though, change the name as it is highly misleading and false advertisement if you don't feel like making it work like a Worms game.

Nomen Nantoka120 days ago

Not sure what part of my previous replies gave you the impression that I’m not willing to change anything. I'm experimenting with adjusting the projectile collisions to collide with the worm bodies including bonus damage for "head" shots. I plan to go back through the early maps after that and adjust health and spawn positions. This is just a hobby for me so don't expect changes to come out daily, its probably going to take me a few weeks for these balance adjustments.

I did of course test the maps when they were originally made. It would take far to long to test all 49 maps each time i make a change to the AI or mechanics though. This is likely why some of the early maps have become far too difficult. Also i don't think i ever re-balanced maps when adding new maps to the same set so the difficult curve is probably sea-saws quite a bit.

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