I like how I won but then immediately lost. That was a nice touch, and is good social commentary on the nature of a fisherman's life.
The jerky camera could be fixed by adding a bit of inertia, if not at the ship-level, then certainly at the camera-level.
Controls could be nicer. Maybe WASD to move, mouse + space to fire?
Does the sell price go down per-fish? Because I did a thing where I tried to buy a bunch of fish, then go to another port and sell 'em where the price was higher. But I ended up only getting a fifth of what I expected.
It might be nice to include some chillax music, if possible. In the end I had to
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Some of my old friends were in town and texted me to see if I wanted to go to Battleship. But my social anxiety overcame me and I didn't go. I made it as far as my car, but then the thought of seeing my friends made me feel physically ill. Physically ill. To the point of dry-heaving. Is this what it's like to grow up? My puberty book didn't mention this at all...
The gameplay feels conflicted. On one hand you have action battles, and on the other hand you have farming fish, and you have economic trading simulator in there too. Yeah, I get what you're going for, with the tension between staying to get the fish and being forced to move due to the cannonballs. But it's more annoying than anything. Figure out what you want your game to say, then focus the mechanics to say that as best as you can.
I like the juiciness of collecting items.
The collision detection is whack. So is the cannon aiming. Check your hitboxes. Check your trajectory algorithm—it shouldn't be any more complicated than an atan2, should it?
Don't put upgrade elements in a ten-minute game. Upgrades are great for instilling a sense of power, but when you get that power two minutes after starting the game?
You've got some relaxing and therapeutic mechanics going on. They're grindy, yeah, but grinding can be nice in its own sort of way. However, this isn't enough to sell a game. You've got to make it worth staying in the game. I'd recommend taking some atmosphere lessons from
Knytt and Fez. A little bit of cohesive world feeling goes a long way.
Keeping with the ocean theme, I'd suggest completely remaking the sound effects. Crackling noise and square waves don't really fit. Try some sine waves, and smooth noise (pink or even some brown, with nice smooth attack/delay).
I love the ocean. I love staring off into that vast expanse and wondering what all is out there. The secrets that are hidden. The beauty unexplored. I have a feeling I am not alone in this regard. Tap into that.
In relation to that, maybe have the player reveal the map, bit by bit. I know you can go further, but that's a start.
It's a start. It's a good start. It's a bit unsure of itself, but I think it'll pull through in the end.
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