Week 7 Feedback
General:
No devlog?
While I appreciate you cutting back the theatrics (more on that below), the new menu doesn't have controller support ...
There's a really, really nice game here - but there's also a major concern. Kenny's ranged attack turrets aren't pretty, but they're functional and yet they're not present in Andrei or Lucas's gym levels. Andrei and Lucas have centralised the gameplay across their levels, but the characters still feel notably different, making it impossible for the project to proceed.
Make sure you've settled on ONE 3Cs setup for the main character (I would propose you stick closer to Andrei's). If you can wrap that up, and the LD Guide is solid enough, this project could be a brilliant little platform game next block - but if not, it isn't really a cohesive prototype of a single game.
Kenny:
Not really sure where the time is going for you. Good, functional job with the shooting, but the camera didn't seem to do anything. No real exploration of what to do with the guns either - hopefully there's some exploration in the LD guide.
Andrei:
Particle effect is WAY over the top on the stomp. I can show you how to feed player data into a Niagara Particle System if you'd like ...
Were these challenges always here? Was I just prevented from finding them because your gym is impossible to navigate until you master the controls? Please lay things out more sensibly! People might be trying to use this stuff for reference!
In general, I hate hate HATE the destructible purple blocks, but you've got some really neat ideas here that feel almost in line with Lucas. The character feels very Super Meat Boy-but-heavy and, ridiculous particle effects aside, the stomp feels satisfying when crunching through destructibles.
Lucas:
I TAKE BACK WHAT I SAID THE THEATRICS ARE STILL THERE.
Your "doors" level is not intuitive to work with. Your collectible counter doesn't update the target amount properly in the second room. The bounce pad in your third room reads far too much like a button, to the point it's very confusing. The slopes are glitchy when you stomp on them, and the moving platforms are really awkward if you stand under them.
All of this flash and style, and there's still all these little mistakes, both oversights in implementation and bad design choices. Don't get cocky. Focus on what's important.
The main character feels okay - fast and loose. Not as satisfying to control as Andrei's, I don't think?
Finally found the sandbox easter egg. It's cute, and very well made, but your LD Guide, Learning Log, BPs and Playtesting documentation had better be absolutely perfect for you to have found the time to mess around.
Overall it (still) feels like you missed the point of PRE-production and started making your own little game. Please learn a lesson from this for the future. You're a part of a team - and a good one for this block. Had you spent more time collaborating with them, this project would have been light years ahead of where it is now.