Fun game! Gamepad controls feel awkward, though, I can't shake the habit of using the right stick for anything more than looking. An average Joe might feel the same way.
If you ever need a Russian translation, I can help you with that.
Movement felt really crisp. I was expecting more sideways momentum in the air when I let go of an arrow key to keep me travelling in that direction further, but I got used to not having that. All the level set pieces are super cool, the big crushers felt impactful and dangerous, Like I was in some giant machine. Maybe add some gear and cog motifs to the background in those piston levels? My major criticism is the double mines, I had the most fun flying through the levels as fast as I possibly could and speed running it and they just killed the flow of momentum. Maybe if you made them a bit further spaced so it was possible to fly through the middle. Launching myself downwards was heaps of fun and was really useful for beating some of the challenges. Please tone down the gun firing sound though, I set my SFX volume to 6 and my housemate could still hear them shooting with my door closed. Oh and the way the guns interact with the other physical elements is really good design. Lots of fun had with this one.
Glad to see that the gameplay feels just as good as in the webms. Loved the little story elements you threw in there, too. It's a very well-connected package. The music, story framework, gameplay all perfectly flow together. Seriously awesome.
Only thing worth mentioning I found was a small graphics glitch during screenshake, although you probably know about that already.
This is a lot of fun! Your games are almost pure gameplay, and this feels good. Not sure I like that holding down left or right without space bar still activates the rocket pack though. It's useful for things like mines, but it doesn't feel exactly intuitive for other hazards. I like all of the hazards except for the double mines. Those almost made me quit, because playing those levels was just a waiting game, moving and detonating then getting out of the way. C-12 was the worst offender. I would also say that I'm fine with rooms where timing and waiting is critical, but having a second room attached to those with a high speed section that probably requires many attempts isn't fun. Those should be separate in my opinion. C-3 killed me the most, easily 40 times, that second room is tough. Stopped at D4.
Your SFX are really good, and the music is good enough, doesn't get annoying after many repetitions, which is good. The menus are nice and the brief story threads are cute and brief, which is good. Your art is the probably the biggest drawback to this. Your game is going to have a tough time differentiating itself from helicopter flash games already, the flat shaded art isn't helping. I know it's pretty late into development, but I would experiment with the more simple and juicy aesthetic that's been popular for indies for a few years. INK is a good example. Bright, contrasting colors and simple geometry might lower the bar for what people would classify as good art for this. Just a suggestion, I really like the gameplay, keep up the constant progress!
The previous demos had a lot more of double mines. Now I'm convinced that the right thing to do is to get rid of them completely.
Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't think simple geometric shapes would fit well this game. I'll definitely try to juice the game a little bit more and improve the art, though.
Comments
Fun game! Gamepad controls feel awkward, though, I can't shake the habit of using the right stick for anything more than looking. An average Joe might feel the same way.
If you ever need a Russian translation, I can help you with that.
Movement felt really crisp. I was expecting more sideways momentum in the air when I let go of an arrow key to keep me travelling in that direction further, but I got used to not having that. All the level set pieces are super cool, the big crushers felt impactful and dangerous, Like I was in some giant machine. Maybe add some gear and cog motifs to the background in those piston levels? My major criticism is the double mines, I had the most fun flying through the levels as fast as I possibly could and speed running it and they just killed the flow of momentum. Maybe if you made them a bit further spaced so it was possible to fly through the middle. Launching myself downwards was heaps of fun and was really useful for beating some of the challenges. Please tone down the gun firing sound though, I set my SFX volume to 6 and my housemate could still hear them shooting with my door closed. Oh and the way the guns interact with the other physical elements is really good design. Lots of fun had with this one.
Thanks for the feedback!
I'll get rid of the double mines and make some levels a little bit more speedrun-friendly.
I'll definitely tone down the gun sfx.
Oh and add a Ruski font for laffs! I think something simple like that would make the game really funny.
Glad to see that the gameplay feels just as good as in the webms. Loved the little story elements you threw in there, too. It's a very well-connected package. The music, story framework, gameplay all perfectly flow together. Seriously awesome.
Only thing worth mentioning I found was a small graphics glitch during screenshake, although you probably know about that already.
Thanks for the feedback!
I think I know how to fix this glitch, but I'll leave it for later...
This is a lot of fun! Your games are almost pure gameplay, and this feels good. Not sure I like that holding down left or right without space bar still activates the rocket pack though. It's useful for things like mines, but it doesn't feel exactly intuitive for other hazards. I like all of the hazards except for the double mines. Those almost made me quit, because playing those levels was just a waiting game, moving and detonating then getting out of the way. C-12 was the worst offender. I would also say that I'm fine with rooms where timing and waiting is critical, but having a second room attached to those with a high speed section that probably requires many attempts isn't fun. Those should be separate in my opinion. C-3 killed me the most, easily 40 times, that second room is tough. Stopped at D4.
Your SFX are really good, and the music is good enough, doesn't get annoying after many repetitions, which is good. The menus are nice and the brief story threads are cute and brief, which is good. Your art is the probably the biggest drawback to this. Your game is going to have a tough time differentiating itself from helicopter flash games already, the flat shaded art isn't helping. I know it's pretty late into development, but I would experiment with the more simple and juicy aesthetic that's been popular for indies for a few years. INK is a good example. Bright, contrasting colors and simple geometry might lower the bar for what people would classify as good art for this. Just a suggestion, I really like the gameplay, keep up the constant progress!
Thanks for the feedback, man.
The previous demos had a lot more of double mines. Now I'm convinced that the right thing to do is to get rid of them completely.
Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't think simple geometric shapes would fit well this game. I'll definitely try to juice the game a little bit more and improve the art, though.