Thanks for the feedback, @jbarrios
You can modify the controls from Main Menu --> Settings. Of course settings will be available in combat scene via pause menu when we get that implemented.
We're also looking into other issues you mentioned!
'Neuronica' Space shooter: asking for your feedback.
Author
Hi Justin,
Thank you for your feedback and the video you made of it.
It was certainly interesting to see our little game 'through the eyes' of a fellow gamer. (That proud moment!)
I like your idea of gravitational pull, not sure it will be implemented, but it is something we did not thought of ourselves so thank you for that.
Again, thank you for taking the time and effort to do your little test run.
Kind regards,
Wrench crowbar
(Cavemen Studios)
.
Update!
New demo released with several improvements and new features. Please check it out on our web site:
http://cavemenstudios.com/spacegame.php
Your help is needed! Any feedback is always appreciated and constructive suggestions will end up in the final product.
Demo 20 improves on demo 19 only with respect to target indicator marks. Incorrect cameras are unchanged and gameplay is dishearteningly worse:
- the ship is still glacially slow and clumsy.
- in addition, the ship now turns a lot after the turning keys are released, making aiming basically impossible.
- dogfighting with divergent slow cannons instead of a front-facing weapon is much more difficult, even more so because the ship turns spontaneously.
- there is no health indication whatsoever for enemy fighters and for the player ship.
Thanks for the feedback! As always, there is a changelog on our web site where all the modifications are listed.
Generally speaking whether I disagree with anyone on the game style and playability in the context it's designed is another thing and I won't be addressing that. There is no way to make any game fun for everyone. That said, on to the nitty gritty:
- The camera FOV was altered by 12 degrees to decrease the perspective distortion. As for fixing the camera in the middle of the screen, several movement schemes were tested, but none of them seem to work in practice. It's the same as in "Endless Sky", where it seems to be working. I'm honestly curious what is the difference which stops it working in our interpretation of 2-axis of freedom space combat? It would be helpful if that is pointed out so we can fix it.
- Ship's speed wasn't modified as I feel it's at the limits with designed mission duration (2-5 minutes). Faster ship will require bigger maps to balance it out. Could this be related to speed of starfield on the background which makes it feel slow? I don't know.
- I modified the ship to turn "after" the keys are released which I would agree is a not ideal. However, based on the feedback we recieved one point was that "angular momentum cancels out too quickly". This is something which probably feels like a good idea but in practice it simply cannot work. Then again after playing for a few hours (sigh) your brain will adjust and it works just as well... and we're back in the realm of philosophy of playability... Is the point of the game to learn how the ship behaves or just to turkey shoot enemies with pinpoint precision? I would tend to agree with the latter, but someone would immediately attack and say that's against everything that he means with "playability".
- There is a health indicator on the player ship (the blinking light). The health bar was removed, since I (and some of the feedback) agreed, that it's distracting to look at the bottom of the screen in the middle of combat.
Anyway, as always, everything you said is interesting and evaluated carefully.
On 3/9/2019 at 5:34 PM, LorenzoGatti said:Demo 20 improves on demo 19 only with respect to target indicator marks. Incorrect cameras are unchanged and gameplay is dishearteningly worse:
- the ship is still glacially slow and clumsy.
- in addition, the ship now turns a lot after the turning keys are released, making aiming basically impossible.
- dogfighting with divergent slow cannons instead of a front-facing weapon is much more difficult, even more so because the ship turns spontaneously.
- there is no health indication whatsoever for enemy fighters and for the player ship.
23 minutes ago, Ridge Batty said:- The camera FOV was altered by 12 degrees to decrease the perspective distortion.
23 minutes ago, Ridge Batty said:Faster ship will require bigger maps to balance it out. Could this be related to speed of starfield on the background which makes it feel slow?
While a moving starfield background alone is a good way to display movement with a centered camera and exaggerating its shifts doesn't hurt, you need to be careful with parallax effects on a cosmic scale.
Anything with parallax is perceived as very close to the camera: it is not the case for the sun and planets, and it is even less the case for nebulas a few light years away. To add wrongness, planets not only move but are displayed in 3D, with even clearer incorrect distance hints, and somehow squeezed instead of circular due to nonsensical camera perspective.
I suggest leaving only the starfield (possibly with distant nebulas and large stars on the same layer to serve as landmarks) and displaying the planets, if useful, as huge pseudo-sprites and obstacles in the same plane as the spacecraft and asteroids. You should use a strict orthographic projection.
Alternatively, set missions close to planetary surface to use parallax and 3D shapes in the proper way with clouds, terrain, etc.
If you want to show off 3D and parallax effects in game despite the deep space environment, invent something actually close to the player ship but not involved in the game interactions, like layers of asteroids and starships, space stations, etc.
Author
Hi all,
There is a new build out for testing and feedback.
Thank you for all your input so far it really makes us think in different ways and approaches which in the end is what we want to achieve.
Kind regards,
Wrench
Direct Download:
https://drive.google.com/uc?export=download&confirm=VDi5&id=1fKgoBeyDeTrCWTHhLBJOXfC6TkPVZlzl
I tried demo 22. Graphics are much better, even if you still have stars in front of nebulas.
Being able to shoot straight is an improvement, but the ship is still horribly unresponsive and underpowered..
On 3/13/2019 at 12:14 PM, Ridge Batty said:- Ship's speed wasn't modified as I feel it's at the limits with designed mission duration (2-5 minutes). Faster ship will require bigger maps to balance it out. Could this be related to speed of starfield on the background which makes it feel slow? I don't know.
Map size? The only map size that matters is one screen, the scale at which dogfights take place. The ship doesn't "feel" slow, it is simply too slow and too uncontrollable to deal with the significantly more agile enemies and bullets.
Author
Heya Lorenzo,
First of all, thank you for continued testing of our new builds and helping us with your feedback.
Your efforts are greatly appreciated.
I made a little stream about build 22 with some comments:
As to your comments that the ship is slow and unresponsive:
Please take into consideration there will be more powerful engines (and weapons) available as upgrades within the game so you will not start with the best option for now.
Kind regards,
Wrench
20 hours ago, WrenchCrowbar said:As to your comments that the ship is slow and unresponsive:
Please take into consideration there will be more powerful engines (and weapons) available as upgrades within the game so you will not start with the best option for now.
I don't think combining average enemies with bad weapons and a bad ship is a good choice for a demo, which should have a particularly good game balance in order to make a good impression and show typical (or particularly fun) gameplay situations..
You might limit use of the bad ship with its weak weapons to the harmless asteroids, and give the player something better for the subsequent demo levels (representative of how the player would be equipped at a similar point in the actual game).
This topic is closed to new replies.
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