I wouldn't call it awkward - it's more like mundane. PDFs feel like a work tool, akin to emails, Google searches, and Excel spreadsheets. Having to read a PDF for a game feels too similar to troubleshooting.
There's definitely a part of me that likes instruction booklets. In the past, I have found them charming. However, when it comes to the idea of getting one in PDF form, I find that almost all the charm is lost in translation. PDFs make the act of setting up a game feel like being at work.
I liked how, with your Transformers game, the control information was immediately visible on the Itch page.
- The game goes fullscreen on the first launch, without me having to use Alt-Enter, F11, or always having to click on a maximize button.
- The pause menu buttons are nice and large, so they're easy to read.
- The visual perspective is on-point, and there's also good sprite scaling. Some of the more obviously 3D shots (like behind the stadium) look quite good.
- The developers have shown signs of hard work. The right-click menu shuffles through a few different modes, and when you click on different things in different modes, you will indeed get different results.
- The gameplay isn't glitchy, as far as I tested.
CONS
- The game's keyboard and mouse defaults are not listed, either on the Itch.io page, or in the game itself. This means that I have to actually play the game, before being able to connect a controller. Moreover, even if I do discover some of the controls, there's no way for me to really know that other keys won't be needed later. Does Esc work right away? Great. But what if I need to also start using Z and X later in the game? Should I have to go into a controller profiler multiple times, to update a layout?
- Every time the character "dies" you have to start all the way from the beginning, with the title screen, and opening text.
- The speech boxes are kind of "all over the place". Some of them are in the center. Others are on the lower-left side. Some have no backdrops. All of these differences make the game's interface look messy.
- The music stops playing once the game actually starts.
- The game's engine doesn't support a wide color palette, so when colors like yellow and magenta are combined, in makes scenes appear sickly.
- Some of the black lines (like around tables) are abnormally thick. There doesn't seem to be any special reason for it.
- It's difficult to determine what can be inspected, and what can't. If everything can be inspected, I could end up clicking on everything, and wasting a bunch of time. Since the characters don't start talking about Eric right away, it's hard to get a sense of when I'm making good progress, or whether I'm just focusing too much on a dead-end area.
CONCLUSION
- The game's engine is very humble. It doesn't give the developers very many options. I think it would be better suited for platformers, or some other kind of game that has a single playing field.
I tested the game with an official Xbox controller, and the plug-and-play works correctly. This game's approach to inputs is fantastic. Xbox controllers work automatically, and for all the rest, I can still create my own layout.
I mostly like the game's atmosphere. It feels a little nauseating, but I can accept that. The game doesn't impose a layout on generic controllers - that's a very nice thing. The perspective on the buildings (on each side) does not match the perspective that the rest of the content has, which does it correctly. It would be nice if there was a larger purpose to collecting the gold.
Thank you for listing the keyboard defaults. I plugged them into JoyToKey, and I want to say that it's not true that "gamepads work in theory".
All Windows-compatible controllers will work with this game, in fact. You could include Xbox controller plug-and-play, and a built-in keybinder, but you don't need those things for this to be broadly controller-friendly.
I enjoyed it. The amount of pit area in the first level is pretty intense, but it will still fun. The game (in its current form) is compatible with hundreds of controllers, but setting up a controller is a challenge, since neither this Itch page (nor the game itself) lists the keyboard/mouse defaults.
If you pursue built-in controller support, I would recommend an Xbox-specific model, rather than a generic one. If you'd like me to test for you, I'd be happy to do it.
I've never played Odama, but I did know about it, when it was new. I wouldn't necessarily claim that it's a proper source of inspiration, only that it has things in common with this game.
The game (intentional or not) is cleanly compatible with hundreds of controllers. I love everything about this, except that it doesn't auto-fullscreen.
- The presentation and the music are in great shape. No higher polygon count is needed.
- Even without Xbox plug-and-play or a keybinder, the game is already compatible with hundreds of controllers, because it won't interfere with JoyToKey. In fact, using a controller is much more comfortable, since everything feels more compact.
- The E key is not listed on the Controls page.
- It would be nice if the speech text was larger, and if clicking on the actual "Back" text wasn't necessary.
- There's no way to exit, other than using Alt+F4 (at least that I know of).
There's something needlessly confusing about the keyboard defaults. I love the idea of Player 1 taking hold of WASD and Player 2 taking the arrow keys, but when it comes to selecting characters at first, you can use W to confirm Player 1, but can't use Up to confirm Player 2.
On conflexgames.com, you can download a special version of JoyToKey that's easier to look at in a living room. You can use it to attach the keyboard defaults to controllers.
I like it a lot. The game has Xbox plug-and-play, but it does it nicely, because it won't interfere with non-Xbox controllers.
It wasn't clear to me that R and Space were actually necessary, because reloading automatically happened, and upgrades seemed to happen just by choosing them, without pressing Space.
There were little touches that I liked, like the way that enemy pawns would bounce back after hitting them, and how the upgrade screen would give a 3-second delay, before closing.
I sort of like it. It's probably possible to play the game with any number of gun controllers. The pumpkins roll extremely quickly. It would be nice if they disappeared after hitting your feet once. It would also be nice if there were platforms that moved around, especially up and down.
So, I played it some more, and I realized (after way too long) that this game is really like a cross between Odama and billiards, which is quite charming. The game doesn't have any code that interferes with controller layouts, so it's actually more controller-flexible than other Itch games that use Xbox plug-and-play too broadly. I'm happy to buy the demo.
I like some of the elements here, but I wish the game didn't need mouse movement, and that the camera would always stay locked behind the deer, making the game more similar to an N64 one.
I really want to like the game. It's probably compatible with hundreds of controllers. However, it's extremely difficult to understand what's going on. There's an awful lot of HUD content, and I can barely make sense of it.
I'll sound a little bit crazy saying this, but I actually think I'd like the game more, if aiming with a mouse wasn't necessary. There's something really out-of-control with this version of the game.
I like the concepts, and the way that they're presented, but I wish the game didn't contain generic control imposition.
I don't mind having controls imposed on official Nintendo, Xbox, and PS controllers, but for generics, I wish the game's approach was hands-off. That would make it more valuable to me, and I'd pay more for that.
I enjoyed trying this out, but there were two things that could've made it better.
1. At first, I was excited to see that the game seemed to be preoccupied with having a keyboard and mouse layout. Usually when that happens, it's a sign that the game will not interfere with JoyToKey software, making the game likely to work well with gun controllers. However, the game does actually impose two controls (movement and firing) on controllers, so it doesn't have a completely clean relationship with JoyToKey.
2. The keyboard/mouse control list is not complete. You also need the E key, yet that's not mentioned above.
So, I've read through the blog (at least the first page) and I wonder if you've used JoyToKey before, because, being able to use a Gamecube controller with PC games doesn't require any Gamecube-specific code. Any PC game that simply contains keyboard/mouse defaults is Gamecube controller-compatible, regardless of the adapter. PC games only need built-in controller code if you want the game to have plug-and-play value.
This year, I created a new site (conflexgames.com) which is dedicated just to Itch.io games that are "broadly controller friendly" meaning that they have an open-ended relationship with controllers. On conflexgames.com, you can also download a special version of JoyToKey with larger buttons, which makes it easier to use in a living room, without squinting. It's true that JoyToKey is not a complete Windows home theater system environment, so it's not as complete as (say) Steam. That's a technological gap that I'm trying to fill. If Sunfluffs is broadly controller-friendly, it can appear on Conflex Games.
Wow. I liked this a lot. It's an interesting concept, has compelling music (even though there's only one song) and it enjoys a high degree of controller flexibility.
Okay, very good. I'll say that it's a good prototype. Even though it made me (vaguely) tired, I was attracted to it. Built-in controller support is only necessary if you want the game to have plug-and-play value. In its current form, I could've used any weird controller, from a Dreamcast one, to a fighter pad.
I had similar results. The game is effectively pegged to Xbox controllers.
In theory, the game's approach to inputs could've been more open-ended, by simply containing keyboard defaults, but since there's a 4-player local option, I can understand why that wasn't done here.
