Hello Hythrain!
Thanks so much for playing and providing feedback for Retro Space Ball!
I would love to see the VOD when its posted. I definitely look forward to watching it and taking further notes!
I appreciate the kind words as well as the effort you put into your feedback. It is all very helpful and I have added it to my notes!
That's interesting that you thought the ball and ship shouldn't be simultaneously vulnerable. I'm hoping to eventually work in easy/normal/hard modes, or at the very least accessibility settings that make the ball invincible to enemy shots. If you have ideas for level designs I am all ears, though I cant guarantee that they will make it into the final game. I really love to hear outside perspectives and fresh thoughts on the design, since I know its a little unique. I'm glad that it was intuitive enough for you to generally enjoy.
For the controls I'm glad that you worked out that you could use wasd and the arrow keys. I agree that its more intuitive to shoot with a different hand than steering. Many changes are still underway with the controls, and I intend to allow custom bindings eventually. Also I will add that in the current state to me it plays best using a gamepad, but I do want the keyboard controls to be intuitive also. Its a bit of a daunting task but it needs to be done
Would you mind clarifying what you mean when you wrote "Don't get me started on that stupid wall ball with the launchers... it's terrifying..."
I think you are talking about the end of the second planet where there are turrets mounted from the ceiling.. but I'm not sure what you mean.
The launchers are the bubbles that catch and shoot the ball. I think.. I'm not just not really sure what you expressing here, though its certainly valid. If you explain it better I might be able to make adjustments to soften the blow.
I do agree that using slopes to funnel the ball is less frustrating than horizontal blocks. Thank you for saying something.
while I admit that I have slowed in the development of this game, I definitely plan to continue iterating and finetuning this design. I really want to get the demo to a point where I feel comfortable putting it up on steam, but I know its not quite there yet. Which is why feedback is so important. 🙂
I really do appreciate your help! Feedback like yours has completely shaped this game from nearly the very start, and its always exciting for me to get more design notes! You should have seen the first builds!... the bullets were so slow.. the ship was slow too.. the ball hurt the ship.. the physics were wonky, the ball was getting stuck in the wall, the art has been changed over and over... Actually some videos of old builds are on YouTube if you do a search for Retro Space Ball. There is even a video of a build that had this bug where it wouldn't work for new players, only people who had played it before and had saved data.. that was devastating to search YouTube and find.🤣
Anyways it never would have gotten this far if awesome people like you didn't help out with your thoughts. So really, thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Rik O.