The tutorial does a good job of explaining the concept, but the problem is that I have no idea what is happening when I am actually dropped into the game.
I got a score of 1000, but I have no idea what was really happening in-game. Is it like Tempest / Gyruss? Am I in a tube... or is it like Space Invaders? Are my enemies in front of me? To the sides of me? As far as I can tell, enemies and sounds pan left and right only, so I have no idea. I know it's not relevant information, but I don't have enough audio cues to really piece together my surroundings, so my mind jumps to these questions -- and while it stems from an issue with the game, I really think that mystery of not knowing your surroundings is what really makes this game so intriguing to me.
My issues are that, as stated, there's not really enough information to play the game, and with what little info I have, the sounds are too similar, and I frequently get audio cues mixed up. I'm no audio designer, but:
- Some sort of continuous, whining sound for enemies moving around the playfield with some doppler effect (I think???) would effectively let you "see" the enemies.
- Afaik there is a thruster sound for the player, and I think there is no reason for it to be there because it clutters up the soundscape. Highly recommend you replace it with audio cues for enemies instead. For this game, if it isn't the case already, I'd suggest limiting the number of enemies on the field to like 1 to 3 .
- Again, I literally have no idea what the playfield looks like, so I keep envisioning this is some sort of tube shooter where enemies are moving back and forth in the foreground and taking potshots at you.
- A distinct cue for grazing an enemy with your shot / an enemy grazing would help with aim.
- Sounds for your shot trailing down the playfield where it decreases in volume the further it gets.
- In addition, I don't mind the beam charging mechanic, but the requirement for it to be fully charged to fire feels unwieldly because I didn't hear any distinct sound for it finishing charging.
- Getting hit: if you have ANY visual feedback, it should be here. I don't know if there is a health system, but I think I was getting hit sometimes?
EXTREMELY fascinating concept, but it definitely requires some serious reworking. I think that an arcade game like Galaxian where enemies simply swoop down from formation and divebomb the player could totally work as an audio-only game already, so I think you're onto something really cool here.