Post by Alaric120 in Incremental Particles SWARMS. Experimental. Do not open. comments

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Alaric12010 days ago(+1)

pretty fun. though i have a few notes if you'd have them.

1. orbiters work a little weirdly as the chase and just ending up behind swarms, id rather they go around the front of my swarm as a spear tip.

2. orbiters seem a little weak and could due with their own buffed upgrades with bigger gains compared to base particles.

3. swarm amount seems a little underwhelming in amount compared to the enemies.

4. rebirth is both very hard to achieve past the first and could use more content such as specialized upgrades or choosing to unlock branches of particles.

5. the tracking on bombers is weird and just causes them to freeze if there is more than one big group, and tent to blow up at the same time and thus be useless.

6. there seems to be little benefit to moving other than getting the two factions to attack, so having particles do better when moving in the direction of what they impact could work.

7.the multiple particle groups are great but could benefit from both more such factions and perhaps larger and obstacle filled enviroments.

so, its a great concept overall, all id suggest is some refining and adding more.

The Workshop Geek9 days ago(+1)

Hey thanks for playing and taking the time to write such a detailed feedback I really appreciate !

1. Yep, good idea !

2. Hmmm maybe, but maybe having 1 would b enough

3. Yep indeed ! I could buff the swarm bonus

4. OMG YES. UPGRADES TREES WILL TOTALLY BE IN

5. Yep ! When you have a few they work, but past that they become less useful. I need to rewrite them

6. Yeah I am thinking about having velocity play a role in damage, or maybe knock back particles, which would be easier to visualize

7. Yep !

Thanks again I really appreciate, it's all in the todo list :)

The Workshop Geek7 days ago (1 edit)

Fixed (I hope, let me know what you think) for the orbiters and bombers ! https://the-workshop-geek.itch.io/incremental-particles-arena-experimental-do-no...

Working on the rebirth-galaxy-of-perks-thingy this sunday ! :)

Alaric1203 days ago

man, you work fast. most issues i had are already solved. though, i still have some words.

my recommendations depend entirely on the direction you want to take the game. if you just want some fun little incremental to burn half an hour then you are basically there, but if you want something a bit more big or just time sink then:

1. i would recommend other types of swarm units, divers fill attack, bombers fill AOE, but i think it would be fun with a more developed class system such as defensive units that act as a shell around the main swarm to prevent losses, units that either support nearby units or respawn them, stationary area denial, etc. of course many of these only work on a larger map and may lead to a more planning heavy zerg-style game bit i just like that.

2. larger maps in general, the asteroids are a nice start but there is potential for much more in my opinion. depending on if you want to stick to the quick wave action then it could be more maze like or even allow player set up, if you end up going slower more true devouring and replicating zerg feeling then larger generated maps with perhaps point of interest to give buffs or win.

3. as of the current state, it is a 15 minute experience at best, and that's fine if you want it like that. if you want more then i would recommend a variety of enemy behaviors and types/strengths, perhaps having a choice or tree of enemies to pursue fights against to get or develop your own troop types, and just general things to work around or discover in order to keep from the loop of just moving in a circle or just sitting still.

4. i still have little clue what the formation button truly does, and would appreciate an explanation or perhaps tool tip system like the stats when hovering over it.

all in all, still incredible work all around, but there is only so much feedback i can give without knowing the intended plan or scale of the game such as what the particles actually are like a zerg galaxy devouring swarm, nanites, if there will be story, if its just a basic arcade game, etc, as its already a decently rounded small experience as is. my apologies. I'll come back if i can think of a good name to recommend.

The Workshop Geek3 days ago

Nooooooooooooo I lost my long answer, missclick :( :(

First THANK YOU ! I really appreciate you checking the game, and even more that you came back !! That is a good sign that I have something with this prototype :)

Yes I work long hours :D I try to keep the daily updates streak alive, and having a demo ready for next fest in October is my goal. But it's super fun ! And reusing old code helps me move faster which is an awesome feeling.

1. YES. I could see the defender, necromancer, healers, fire eaters, water sprite, wind elemental being part of the game. They could be special units, giving them more room for graphical details.

My only worry with the units is that it would eventually need it's own screen to customize your "army". I'm not sure that I want this kind of complexity in game, and I suck at UI/UX.

2. YES too. I think I will eventually need larger maps anyway. The goal is to have A LOT of particles in each swarms. So the current one screen playfield will feel too small eventually. There is a hidden zoom function in the game, but I don't like how the camera feels, so I need to fix that before moving to the larger map.

Maze, why not. I could see them as a nice change of pace every now and then. Currently the obstacles are circles because I don't have a navigation mechanism, but there is a ready made library I could use for this, so it should not be too complicated to add.

3. Yep ! Right now I am still building the fundamentals. Adding an "element" system, that will also give more variety. The next logical step would be to give enemies more personality. Maybe factions, with their own strength and weaknesses. But I am afraid that it would also give me the need for a "customize your army" screen.

4. Yeah the formation sucks a bit today. I haven't addressed it directly, because I think the underlying issue is how the damage is processed, and how much of a bonus you get by locally outnumbering your enemy. I am still tweaking this part. But the idea is to give you a shape that will help you envelop your enemies.

Tooltip, yeah, for sure !!

The intent is to release it on steam, be a 2 to 20 hours experiences, depending on how much you want to dig into it. You might find it odd, but I have been looking at bloons TD, and I think that's a nice balance of immediate fun and depth to achieve.

As for story, that would be a nice addition. Not sure yet honestly, I am still focusing on putting in place systems first (and playing with particle effects)
Again thank you so so much I deeply appreciate !!!