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Hopefully that won't be too long. I just need to work on some basic NPC behavior and it should be good to go!

For those interested in this template, I am currently working on a more advanced one to include a lot more mechanics including various weapons (with easy ways to add more), vehicles, and destruction. You can follow along with my progress on YouTube. 

In the meantime, I have uploaded a basic update to this older template to 4.5 that should also fix a few smaller issues. If anyone would like any of my newer assets, such as sprite sheets or the WIP template in the meantime, feel free to ask here or on my Discord.

That was certainly not the ending I expected.

So, I have several recommendations to improve the game, mostly stuff that shouldn't be too hard to change, at least with my knowledge working in Godot.

The simplest is to make the hit marker change for headshots and kill-shots to make it more satisfying and give the player more information. Could even be as simple as making it read for those.

Second, the AI could definitely use some improvements as they tend to just rush the player which leads to simple run-and-gun gameplay. I think this could be improved by giving certain types of predefined cover (sandbags, stone walls, vehicles, etc.) positions where they could take cover if they are nearby. This could also allow you to make more interesting map-design by forcing the player to consider positions where the enemy is taking cover, or even machinegun nests (if you were to use this system to add those) when approaching.

For UI design, I really think you need some sort of compass or arrow on the top of the screen to show the direction to go. While the current system technically works, it doesn't feel quite right. Also, I recommend adding some basic text for the loading screens to say that it what is happening.

Lastly, and probably not so easy, I feel that the story and the cutscenes could be done better. I understand the message of the game and think it can be done well, but it only really seems to be explained at all in the final mission. I really think you need to give a more concrete reason for why the main character would be targeted. Maybe they found evidence of war crimes in the village and called their captain to try to report them, resulting in the captain going to Levy who orders him to silence you. Also, while I understand the current method of doing the cutscenes (i.e. images and some text) is done likely because alternatives would be far more costly, I really think it would be worthwhile to explore using scripted events instead or at least adding voice-overs for the text.

If I revisit this game, I could see about adding that to the Russian line-up. Alternatively, I might be able to add another faction with the Chinese to include it. I would have to check how I coded things, though, to see how viable a third faction is.

Thanks for playing!

Gotcha. I'll see if I can add some other HUD element to show where they might be (plus a toggle if it ever gets too much), and probably something to quickly mention that different colored ships from you are enemies.

Ah, I guess I still have more work to do then.

I have now updated the game to have that feature if you ever want to try it again!

Great! I'll have to see if I have enough time tonight to work on UI to add the side switching in for an update tomorrow. Thank you for replying since you have helped give me a lot of ideas for how to assuage the issues you have mentioned! Like, I could try adding some radio chatter or "unit barks" to set each side apart more than just being blue, yellow or purple ships (there's stuff setting them apart under the hood, but it seems I can do a lot to give them more personality).

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it!

Thanks for trying it! If you have time to respond, was the lost feeling just a matter of not having a particular goal or not knowing where anything is? I'm trying to update this game for after the jam and would like to do what I can to fix any issues like this.

Yeah, I've seen people mentioning this issue with losing where the galaxy is a few times so I'm adding in some things like an arrow towards the nearest star to help you make your way back. Here's a pic of that if you would like to comment on if you think it would have helped you:

(PLEASE NO ONE CHANGE RATINGS BASED ON THIS! I am just curious for feedback since I plan to update this game after the jam ends)

I will also see if I can make a little tutorial level to help with learning the shooting mechanics since they require you to slow down a bit and aim more toward where the enemy is going instead of just where they are right now (I'll also see if there is any way to make this more intuitive). Oh, and I should probably let you switch sides and ships (this I am working towards right now by adding shipyards for that) so its a bit easier to avoid spawncamping when one side starts winning for a while.

Thanks for playing and I hope you enjoyed it even with those issues!

I think if you decide to revisit this, you should take some notes from a game like Jalopy or spread out the people more so there are more interesting landscapes to see along the way.

I quite like this one compared past "game jam in a game jam" games! The minigames vary a fair bit and the timer really sells the experience!

Took me a few minutes to release that was a button on the right for the deck, but after that it was quite fun to play! I feel like your use of a "loop" works great thematically and doesn't overstay its welcome!

The art and audio make it feel really polished! I also quite like the filter you have for the camera!

Definitely not what I expected going in. Nice job!

Oh dear. I think I'll see if I can add some sort of indicator for the nearest star to help prevent that.

Oh, okay! I can add that in then as a control option. I initially thought of that, but I already had this method figured out from a jet fighting game I made and I ran out of time to add that in.

Thanks for playing! If you still remember, could you tell me what you found annoying about the movement? I can try to fix it when I update the game after the jam.

Oh, that might have helped me to add even more flamethrower walls. I liked combining them with ghost ships and catapults to keep the pirate ship trapped in a little "killzone."

Thank you! I'll make sure to upload it when the jam ends. Performance will also be much better since I have ironed out a lot of the stuff straining the GPU and adding unnecessary physics calculations.

I got past 1520, but lost at 1703. I think I needed another Bottle to get past that wave. 

The player is mainly meant to act as a supporting role by attacking other ships and escorting armies. While the army code was bugged in the game jam version, they were meant to invade other planets and take them over. I am continuing work on this game though and have patched that bug and plan to add the ability to call army ships directly to follow you and attack planets you go to. Thanks for playing and I hope you had fun despite that issue!

Thank you!

Unfortunately, a single line of code in this version prevented armies from different empires from directly capturing planets. They will change control through some other more random events as part of their "evolution" mechanics, but I was not able to spot that issue till after the jam. Thanks for taking a look!

It's fun and is quite a unique way of interpreting the theme. I do wish it started out a little easier to help us get a grip with the mechanics, though.

Very well done! The British Grenadiers Fife and Drum was not what I expected for some cavemen to kill each other to but it works pretty well!

I really like this take on the theme and it reminds me of some clone army game I used to play on my phone! I only wish I could restart a particular loop or that there was less randomization to each level as it gets really hard to get past a level when you are stuck due to both those aspects.

I really enjoyed this one! It's a nice little challenge and I played it a few times to see how high of a score I could get.

Nice way to tackle the theme! I also think you made a good choice in music as it feels like just the right tempo for gameplay and doesn't get grating on repeat.

Thank you! I am currently working on it some more for updates after the jam and I will have to see if I can add more ways to customize the ship.

I think you might need to ramp up the difficulty more with later waves. I stopped having to do much around wave 12, and could leave it alone entirely after wave 24 or so. Otherwise, its a nice little game that just could use some more content in general.

This game is absolutely phenomenal! I adore the railgun for the sheer amount of destruction it leaves behind with every shot. The charge-up sounds are also great and help make it one of my favorite implementations of a railgun in gaming. Really, every gun in this game is done well and feels wonderful to use with the awesome destruction effects!

All that being said, I really enjoyed your game and look forward to you finishing it!

If you require one, I can go and make one quickly for it. You can use this for personal and commercial use with no limitations. While I would prefer to be credited somewhere, I will not require it as I haven't specified it before and its a template so I don't see it as very necessary.

You're welcome! I'm glad it's been helpful for you. If there's anything I can do to help or explain something, I'd be happy to do so!

Link: https://ldgamingexpress.itch.io/gone-hot-fighter-combat

Trailer Link:

https://youtu.be/Vpzqh1yUSro?si=b5UsoenuWNVLP6xv

• Use different cards to shoot magic at different fire rates, damage, and some even as multishots!
• Combat is fast-paced as you can typically sprint around your enemies and take advantage of your speed to dodge them!
• Play four missions!

Link: https://ldgamingexpress.itch.io/cardomancy

Made by a five-person group as part of one of Clemson Game Dev Club's monthly game jams.