I largely agree with the other feedback, but I wanted to add that it feels unnecessary to require that the player collects all the coins to advance a level. Partly because it's not clear up front, but also partly because it feels overly difficult to go back through a level if you missed a coin. This is a really strong project overall and impressive for a first project! And there are a few really fun details, like the "funnel" in level 3 and the "glass" covering the falling portion of level 3. Really creative and versatile level designs! I also had some slow loading times - you may want to check out the Unity Profiler to see what's going on (especially in level 4).
But in the end I find it too frustrating. A simple thing you could do is instead of requiring all the coins to award a bonus for collecting them instead. Why else is it frustrating? Because it is *very* hard to see where you'll land. One way to address this would be to create a "fake" shadow directly underneath the player to aid in landing after longer jumps. I would also think about what kind of challenge you're trying to give the player. I think "punishingly difficult" is a genre, but when it is done well it usually is a quite "scaffolded" experience that only throws one new thing at the player at a time and gives lots of time to practice. Your levels do this sometimes, but other times it feels like a bunch of new things all at once without any ability to really practice them. The question I'd think about is "How do you want the player to experience challenge?"
From the second I opened and started playing your game I could tell you put a lot of thought into everything. The overall atmosphere you created with the visuals and audio makes the game an interesting experience from the get go. The only issue I personally had was sometimes it was a bit difficult to see where the ball was going to land when it was jumping as the perspective was a little bit confusing. Apart from that I think that the controls you used and the use of the jump button was a nice touch and helped to make it feel like something I would have played on a website when I was younger. Overall the game felt very professional, the level was very cool and a bit of a challenge.
For starters, I found it very remarkable how much effort you put into the look and atmosphere of the game. From the second I started up your project it was clear that you went above and beyond what we've learned to make your game look unique. I loved all the texture work, the fact that you added in music, and the animation for the coins. I played through all of your levels and through playing I did find something that I think could be improved upon. When I got to the third level, I noticed that you can climb walls by mashing the jump button. I was able to hang on to a wall after falling off, and I was even able to skip the entire level by mashing against the first wall because I assume every jump adds to your current velocity so it added up. However, even though I made it to the end of the level in this way, it didn't let me move onto the next stage. I'm not sure if this is because I didn't collect the coins in the stage or if it was for another reason because it wasn't clear from the start screen whether collecting the coins was required to progress or not. Moving on, something successful about the game was definitely the level design. The third level in particular stands out because I really enjoyed how it's a more condensed space and you're climbing up a mountain. I also loved that you made the ball glow in this particular level so it could still be seen behind the moving obstacles. I also enjoyed that you added a double jump so players could attempt to fix their jumps if they were a little off target. Finally, I really liked that you added multiple levels to your game. It made it feel more complete and I was actually surprised when I moved onto a new level after beating the first one. I also really liked how your UI faded in and out on its own at the start of a level. I also enjoyed that your game was pretty difficult, but I did not like having to restart at the beginning of the level when I died. Your levels were decently long, so a checkpoint or 2 in each would have helped out a ton. There were a few times where I just wanted to stop playing because I fell off at the end of the level and I didn't want to have to go through the entire thing again. The perspective of the camera also sometimes made it difficult to tell where I was in the 3D space and I would end up not landing on a platform that I thought I was going to land on. Overall though, I really enjoyed playing through your first project and I'm excited to see what you do for the next one!
Something remarkable (i.e. you noticed it because it showed care by the developer, was particularly engaging or fun, or was otherwise memorable)
Let me start off by saying that the level design is absolutely astonishing, everything about each level is beautifully thought out. I also am in love with how you used that ball glow in the 3rd level with how the ball disappeared at times during the first set of obstacles and also loved the space background/skybox, and the audio that you used throughout the game. The moment I started up the game, I felt so immerged and interested to play with how clean everything looked and felt. Level design looks like one of your strong suits so keep it up!
Something to be improved about the game
I am not to sure whether it is my computer or the game itself, but at times it took way too long to load up a scene. I know that does not have to do with the game itself, but I would definitely make it much more playable in more devices down the road. I also think the movement of the game is very hard, I get it is very similar to Marble Madness but when it came to jumping on to different platforms, I was already preparing to restart the level. That being said, maybe incorporating checkpoints into the levels so that once you get towards the end, it doesn't send you all the way to the beginning and give users the chance to finish a level.
Something successful about the game
I think each obstacle and their animation was done wonderfully. There was not a single obstacle that was out of sync with the rest of the them and that made the game feel so smooth and fun to play. Along with the animations, all the physics materials that you used were done nicely and added additional obstacles to the game so I liked that. Overall, everything about the game is polished and looks good for a juicy beta release!
Some general, off-the-cuff feedback (what you liked/disliked and why)
Liked: The level design is outrageously good, the obstacles are challenging but makes it so fun to play, the galaxy/space background gives the game such a beautiful perspective from all angles. The game is almost if not already completely built with a Start and Victory menu. You put a lot of time and thought to this project so I love it all!
Disliked: As much as I have praised this project, I have wanted to smash my keyboard and punch my monitor every minute playing this game haha. this game is outlandishly difficult but it balanced itself out with the level design, music, and obstacles. I think if you were about to somehow take away some of the jumping platforms, it would be a lot easier but then again, I normally do not play keyboard so I might just be atrocious at the game haha. The difficulty and the lack of checkpoints is pretty much my only complaints.
Comments
I largely agree with the other feedback, but I wanted to add that it feels unnecessary to require that the player collects all the coins to advance a level. Partly because it's not clear up front, but also partly because it feels overly difficult to go back through a level if you missed a coin. This is a really strong project overall and impressive for a first project! And there are a few really fun details, like the "funnel" in level 3 and the "glass" covering the falling portion of level 3. Really creative and versatile level designs! I also had some slow loading times - you may want to check out the Unity Profiler to see what's going on (especially in level 4).
But in the end I find it too frustrating. A simple thing you could do is instead of requiring all the coins to award a bonus for collecting them instead. Why else is it frustrating? Because it is *very* hard to see where you'll land. One way to address this would be to create a "fake" shadow directly underneath the player to aid in landing after longer jumps. I would also think about what kind of challenge you're trying to give the player. I think "punishingly difficult" is a genre, but when it is done well it usually is a quite "scaffolded" experience that only throws one new thing at the player at a time and gives lots of time to practice. Your levels do this sometimes, but other times it feels like a bunch of new things all at once without any ability to really practice them. The question I'd think about is "How do you want the player to experience challenge?"
From the second I opened and started playing your game I could tell you put a lot of thought into everything. The overall atmosphere you created with the visuals and audio makes the game an interesting experience from the get go. The only issue I personally had was sometimes it was a bit difficult to see where the ball was going to land when it was jumping as the perspective was a little bit confusing. Apart from that I think that the controls you used and the use of the jump button was a nice touch and helped to make it feel like something I would have played on a website when I was younger. Overall the game felt very professional, the level was very cool and a bit of a challenge.
For starters, I found it very remarkable how much effort you put into the look and atmosphere of the game. From the second I started up your project it was clear that you went above and beyond what we've learned to make your game look unique. I loved all the texture work, the fact that you added in music, and the animation for the coins. I played through all of your levels and through playing I did find something that I think could be improved upon. When I got to the third level, I noticed that you can climb walls by mashing the jump button. I was able to hang on to a wall after falling off, and I was even able to skip the entire level by mashing against the first wall because I assume every jump adds to your current velocity so it added up. However, even though I made it to the end of the level in this way, it didn't let me move onto the next stage. I'm not sure if this is because I didn't collect the coins in the stage or if it was for another reason because it wasn't clear from the start screen whether collecting the coins was required to progress or not. Moving on, something successful about the game was definitely the level design. The third level in particular stands out because I really enjoyed how it's a more condensed space and you're climbing up a mountain. I also loved that you made the ball glow in this particular level so it could still be seen behind the moving obstacles. I also enjoyed that you added a double jump so players could attempt to fix their jumps if they were a little off target. Finally, I really liked that you added multiple levels to your game. It made it feel more complete and I was actually surprised when I moved onto a new level after beating the first one. I also really liked how your UI faded in and out on its own at the start of a level. I also enjoyed that your game was pretty difficult, but I did not like having to restart at the beginning of the level when I died. Your levels were decently long, so a checkpoint or 2 in each would have helped out a ton. There were a few times where I just wanted to stop playing because I fell off at the end of the level and I didn't want to have to go through the entire thing again. The perspective of the camera also sometimes made it difficult to tell where I was in the 3D space and I would end up not landing on a platform that I thought I was going to land on. Overall though, I really enjoyed playing through your first project and I'm excited to see what you do for the next one!