itch.io

Happy to help.

Yeah, I'll definitely try it again.

I think I understand the problem. I've been watching game design videos  recently and they've talked about some stuff that applies here.

Strong effects in games tell us how we make a difference in the game world. At the moment there is big effects for blocking the damage (sound, visuals, screen shake) but little effects for bouncing the ball.  It gives the feeling that my job is shielding and the ball is just an extra bit to make shielding easier.

You to switch those around a bit. Little effects for shielding bigger effects for bouncing so that bouncing feels like the impactful choice (also in terms of dopamine response in the brain, if bouncing is the behavior you want to encourage than the effects on it will be what reinforces the behavior).

Narratively speaking, we are also told that our job is to "protect the nuke at all costs". Change that to say something like "destroy the attack ships blocking your way".  It might be a good idea to not even tell the players that they can block the attacks and let them learn that as they play.

In terms of game play when we have to make a choice between bouncing the ball the and protecting the nuke there is never much reason to choose bouncing the ball. You want to find a way to encourage the player to take that risk. Maybe there is bonus score for bouncing streak? Maybe the ball bounces a bit faster on a streak? maybe the reflector gets a little smaller if you drop the ball?
If there was indicator for how many hits the nuke could take and a progress bar for the regeneration we'd also be more willing to make sacrifices because we know what we are giving up.

Its possible to balance things and make both feel equally important but the bouncing is active gameplay and the shielding is passive gameplay so I think that it will make the game more engaging to focus on the bouncing and let the the shielding be a bit more secondary.

Some other gameplay things I noticed:

• There was some weird physics when I hit the ball right on the side that experience with break out games made me think would turn out differently (I imagine the collision detection physics make programming the bit difficult, maybe you could implement a minimum value for the upwards vector?)
• When the nuke got hit by the beam attack it barely got over the edge but it took the nuke out straight away and felt a bit unfair (maybe narrow the beam attack, add invincibility frames, or time delay on the beam doing the damage if the nuke isn't being hit by the middle section of the beam
• The score at the top of the screen was cut off a bit (this was pc version)
• In the description  you also said "made up of geometric shapes" and "Why a ball? Its wartime, don't ask questions!!". Players will automatically not worry about stuff like that and pretend it makes sense to feel immersed. But if you tell them not to think about something that's harder to do. If the description said it was space dragons I would think "cool" and believe you, even though it is just shapes. If you just say aliens I'll start building my own ideas about what the shapes represent. But if you say "its just shapes, don't worry about it" I won't engage my imagination because I know 'the truth' and it will make the world feel blander.

I hope some of this was useful. As I said at the start, this is something I've been learning about recently so I'm applying that knowledge and this is the changes I would look at making, so if this stuff doesn't fit your vision then don't worry about it (I also have no idea how easy/complex  any of this would to program but I'm sure that that would make a big difference to you about how good any of this advice is).

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Your page is definitely stylish. GroovyMaster looks like an appropriate title.

At the moment I'm working on some big improvements to the gameplay/mechanics (and getting rid of bunch of junk code that I had poorly written when I started) but soon I'm going to work on some visual improvements for this page and the game.

Hey, thank you for playing.

I'm still trying to work out the best way to prevent that soft lock. There is enough stuff lying around to sell and a tree that gives you money but I want to come up with a better way for a future update.

Devils Path Legacy - A cooking themed RPG

https://doctorlasers.itch.io/devils-path-legacy

I've decided to make my game free. Its a RPG themed around cooking in a fantasy setting. It's short and sweet and also a bit quirky (odd but enjoyable). Please give it a go and let me know what you think.

It's a neat idea and decent visual style. I would say that player moves a little slower than I'd like. The physics are a bit weird on the level where you introduce the floating mechanic. It probably needs to adjusted to be a bit more user friendly. It kept acting in odd ways and after a bit I stopped trying.

Hope this helps!

Hi I've just released my first game and I'm looking to get some feedback. It is a pretty short game and any advice  would be appreciated.

https://doctorlasers.itch.io/devils-path-legacy

I've put some free product keys below for anyone interested in taking a look and giving feedback.

If you've claimed a key write in the comments so people know not to try the links.

1. https://doctorlasers.itch.io/devils-path-legacy/download/0oieR5ZbhDRGlohQgLZRBZo...
2. https://doctorlasers.itch.io/devils-path-legacy/download/ZEEMmLMN_Fofvv9zJxG7HcD...
3. https://doctorlasers.itch.io/devils-path-legacy/download/01gYHRhj08JGhWfF5dw7ZZP...

Thank you!

Hi all.

I've just published my first game. I've been working on it for a while in my spare time but its finally at a point where I'm happy to start releasing it to the public.

https://doctorlasers.itch.io/devils-path-legacy

It's a short and quirky RPGMaker game about trying to become the worlds greatest cooking champion.

Have a nice day!