Hello,
Thank you very much for your kind feedback! My first main goal was to make exactly this atmosphere and than build a game around it. I always wanted to make the Aurora Borealis effect and I finally did it for this game! :)
The bushes and rocks props were planned but I didn't decide to do it due to lack of time.
"The only problem that I felt was quite important is not being able to tell when you get hit and what hits you. A simple sound effect or screen overlay may help."
There is a dynamic border around the healthbar that flashes purple when you get hit or green when you heal. Additionally there is a small shield icon after you get hit (next to the healthbar) that indicates the invincibility after getting hit.
I totally agree that this is not enough and I have just updated the game and added sound effects + vignette on hit (same vignette as when you get to the darkzone)
"Other than that, after playing for a while, I felt like I was getting swarmed by a thousand enemies and that there really was not much I could do about it. "
Balancing the diffuculty was way harder than I though it would be and I'm aware that it will take way more time to get it right.
The game was balanced around my own experience and knowledge which skills to upgrade when. Sometiems I failed the first 2 minutes and sometiems I was able to survive +10 minutes. It should be possible to survive for nearly infinitie ammount of time assuming that you choose the right skills and have some luck + fast reflexes. There is also easy mode which should be way more managable.
Btw. Sky (and enemy damage) changes at 300s and 400s and enemy spawn frequences stops growing after 460s.
"If you ever find yourself coming back to this, consider adding AOE abilities or something like that. It would really be satisfying seeing a giant mass of enemies getting demolished."
Haha, i thought about that. I was also thinking about bullets penetrating enemies (passive skill) and alternative active skills for classes (one class would have time slowing and second one some AOE ring of fire thingy etc.) Might develop it later, thanks! :)