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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperPlaytestingLaserJet - 3-player battle arena (first attempt at pixel art & animation)
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Author Topic: LaserJet - 3-player battle arena (first attempt at pixel art & animation)  (Read 4060 times)
TPathuis
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« on: April 19, 2013, 05:34:57 AM »

I have been working on this little Unity game I call LaserJet for just a couple of days now. It’s my first attempt at some pixel art and animation. So I’m in need of some feedback/suggestions/guidance regarding this part of the game as well as the gameplay(-balance)!

Link:
http://www.thomaspathuis.com/LaserJet.html
(Game works with xbox controllers and/or Keyboard controls: WAD, JIL, Arrow keys - for the three characters, spacebar to start/confirm, escape to pause)

Video:
https://vine.co/v/b2jm17LFiuV

Screenshot:


The goal is to kill your opponent with the laserbeam from your jet.
Please let me know what you think and/or any of your ideas/suggestions!
« Last Edit: June 15, 2013, 07:01:15 AM by TPathuis » Logged
erik
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« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2013, 09:23:27 PM »


I think this is a fun idea.  There are some solid things here.  I got a chance to play it with a friend, and we had a bit of fun with it.

To start with, if you want to go further with this, I think you need to make some improvement to your prototype.
  • Track and show who won.  It was annoying to reach the end of the round, and not be able to see who won, and usually be kicked right back into the game because we were still pressing keys from playing the previous round.  Tracking wins and losses over time would help as well.
  • Almost every game we played ended from the timer.  I think you need to make the matches longer.  Reducing the power of the health bonuses, or making them much less common might help with this.  Also making the laser deal more damage might be good.

I would say these were the major gameplay issues we encountered, and I would make addressing them your priority if you are going to do another build of this.

On getting feedback:
  • If you want to get feedback from random people online, you are almost certainly going to need an enemy AI.  I know this is a big task, but random people online probably aren't going to have a second player available to try your game.
  • Since you are using unity, maybe make a windows download available as an alternative.  Not everyone has the web player installed.

Thoughts on polish and more subtle items.
  • I liked the character art and animation.  It has a bit of a Super Crate Box feel.  I would experiment with slowing down the bounce a little bit though.
  • I think there is a lot of potential to add effects to the lasers.  More colours, more particles, etc.
  • I found the movement a little too predicable when fighting against my friend.  When we chase each other, it's always at the same speed, and it can be hard to surprise the other person, or get into a better position.  Maybe it would be better if the jet accelerated a little slower, and had more of an exponential thrust effect? Or maybe if there was a double jump or double tap dash effect for a temporary burst of speed.  Or maybe a temporary speed powerup instead of the health?
  • Physics: pushing each other.  Standing on each others heads.  Making the edges of the platforms boxes with well defined edges.
  • Perhaps instead of cutting out the attacker's jet when they get a hit, give the other player temporary invincibility?
  • More levels.  Or random platform layouts.
  • I'm not sure about the slow recharge time on the jet power, and the power limited by your health.  I think that you would have to address some other gameplay issues first before you could really see the impact of this mechanic.

That's everything I can think of at the moment.  It will be interesting to see if you take this further.
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Feedback Thread
TPathuis
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« Reply #2 on: June 14, 2013, 06:04:53 AM »

Although its been a while I'd still like to thank you erik for your thoughtful feedback and suggestions. I have been working on the game, not as much as I would have wanted to, but I hope you'll find it improved a lot already.
I have a list of things I would like to improve and add once I find the time, including things erik mentioned. But I'd still like to bump this topic with a link to the updated game if you don't mind. I would appreciate any additional feedback and suggestions!

Link:
http://www.thomaspathuis.com/LaserJet.html
(Game works with xbox controllers and/or Keyboard controls: WAD, JIL, Arrow keys - for the three characters, spacebar to start/confirm, escape to pause)

Video:
https://vine.co/v/b2jm17LFiuV

Screenshot:
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markus8585
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« Reply #3 on: June 14, 2013, 03:53:52 PM »

I did not get the chance to play it against anyone so there is a little bias on this feedback but would be nice if there was some AI. But definitely would suggest the ability to pick a number of plays in case there are only 2 people?

Also at the start it says "Press Start" but on a keyboard you need to press spacebar, might need some (space/start) or detection for input or something.

It seemed like unless you were 100% directly overhead the beam didn't hurt them it would be cool if the edges of the beam did at least some damage?

Anyways I had a lot of fun playing around with it even with how simple it was.

It might also be neat to have a version instead of a time trial it could just subtract from health and eliminate players.

Anyways great job, way better than what I can do!  Gentleman Hand Thumbs Up Left
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TPathuis
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« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2013, 03:28:03 AM »

I did not get the chance to play it against anyone so there is a little bias on this feedback but would be nice if there was some AI. But definitely would suggest the ability to pick a number of plays in case there are only 2 people?

Also at the start it says "Press Start" but on a keyboard you need to press spacebar, might need some (space/start) or detection for input or something.

It seemed like unless you were 100% directly overhead the beam didn't hurt them it would be cool if the edges of the beam did at least some damage?

Anyways I had a lot of fun playing around with it even with how simple it was.

It might also be neat to have a version instead of a time trial it could just subtract from health and eliminate players.

Anyways great job, way better than what I can do!  Gentleman Hand Thumbs Up Left

Thank you for playing!
AI is definitely something I would like to give a try at implementing even though I have no experience with building it. I do think the game is probably most fun if you play it together with 2 friends instead of AI but we'll see.

The input detection is a good suggestions, added to the list, and I'll have to look into the beam problem you mentioned.

I have been thinking about different modes for the game (including a single player one of some sort) but a player elimination mode would be cool as well. An earlier build of the game had a health bar in addition to the laserjet resource bar and I found the 'strike system' that is in the game now works a bit better. But what about 10 strikes = out?
A problem with the 'strike system' I found however is that players do not recognize that the lesser strikes you have the better you are playing, so it might needs to change a little in any case, any ideas?

Thanks for feedback and suggestions!
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TerrifyingGames
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« Reply #5 on: June 16, 2013, 07:15:58 AM »

Just had a go with an xbox controller. It's really great, even though had no one else to play with.

I'd love to see a single player mode!

Here's some stuff  found:

- A secondary melee attack would be cool for when you run out of 'power'. I found myself running around on the ground a lot but maybe it's because I was too trigger happy!

- Great music. Loving the dubstep vibe. Maybe the spinning background could vibrate along with the 'wubs'?

- Make powerups more obvious. At first I stayed away from them because I thought they were some sortof damaging thing.

Hope that helps Smiley
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