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[Ethan718]

Note: The aiming dots feature is in the game, but you don't start out with it- it's a powerup.

Your goal is to defend four small cabins that are facing a barrage from overhead. TNT boxes, rats, monkeys, and many more enemies fall from the sky. You start off with a generous 5 hit points, with 1 HP recovered after each wave of enemies.

Your weapons are fruits, sent into the air with a slingshot. While you start off with a tiny and embarrassing watermelon, that watermelon can be leveled up and grow into a record-breaking, gigantic melon.

In the demo, two other fruits are shown. In the final game, these are unlocked, but in the demo here you start out with all of them. The pineapple explodes, sending off a shockwave that takes out anything in its path. The problem is, at first, that path is very small. After leveling up, it becomes almost unstoppable. Almost.

The last weapon is a pomegranate. Once detonated it releases three berries into the air, spreading out across the screen. It's easily the most efficient, but takes the longest to get.

Press Z to switch weapons, and press X to detonate the last two weapons in mid-air. Use the mouse to pull back the slingshot.

You can play the game here:
http://bit.ly/wbUZ0k (Tried to get it on to a Google Sites page but it didn't work)


Thanks for playing! Specifically, I'd like to know your opinions on the difficulty- too hard? Also, do you think three weapons are enough, or too few?

[Xyvir]

I really like the feel of this game. I like the feel of the controls, they're really solid, and the presentation is simple but polished and effective. I think the enemy behavior and weapon implimentation could use a little tuning however.

This game reminds me a lot of the Pyoro mini game in WarioWare Touched! One thing I really liked about that game is the ability to combo many bugs with your tongue all at once. I've only played up to level 10, but the enemies seems relatively sparse and fast moving. I hardly ever could combo 2 enemies at a time, and 3 was almost impossible. I suggest slowing the enemy speed down a bit and increasing the volume of enemies to play up the combo aspect. You already have the score geared that way, just tweak the enemy behavioral a bit. Another thing that Pyoro did to facilitate enemy combos is by scripting the enemy movements. May I suggest sometimes having several enemies spawn in a column for the express purpose of letting the player combo them? Right now they seem to spawn individually.

I like the weapons. They feel different and each bring something different to the table. Right now they seemed to be ordered by there effectiveness from least to greatest. Maybe increase the initial melon size a bit and increase the initial pineapple explosion size a bit to balance them. Also they way you implement the multiple weapons seems a tad odd to me. The game has a very arcade-y feel, and managing weapons on the fly bogs it down a bit IMO. Maybe you can change weapons via powerups, maybe you choose a weapon before you play the game, or before each level, or something like that. I do not reccomened allowing the player to change on the fly.

That's just my opinion. Except for those few criticisms I really enjoyed the game. And long live Pyoro.

[Ethan718]

Thank you for such a substantive (and positive!) response. I've really been starving for some sort of feedback, and this was great.

First of all, I immediately searched for Pyoro, and you're right- it's similar. I honestly hadn't heard of it- that being said, there is a Nintendo mini-game that this game is based on (if you can figure it out, I'll have to fess up!)
I much prefer the volume of enemies on the screen in Pyoro- you're right, that's a good amount. From my perspective I'm a little worried about the FPS, but it's been pretty good as of late. I'll talk to my game making buddy about that (he's the brains of the operation, as he's the programmer).
I also very much like the idea of having pre-determined sets or formations of enemies. Great idea. Also, on the topic of combos themselves, it's very important to have the player get them. Watching a series of explosions is extremely rewarding.

About your ideas on the weapons- we'll play around with making the pineapple and watermelon as good as the pomegranate, but really the idea is that there will be a time where you only have a watermelon. The game gets really tough, so I like the idea of the player being able to switch weapons on the fly.

Thanks again.
 

[Desert Dog]

Hey Ethan! Long time no see, so this is what you've been getting up to. Flash games! Traitor! D:

This game rocks, though. The graphics are nice, and the gameplay is smooth. A problem some of these arcade games have for me is that they either start off either too fast, or too slow, but this was good.

I personally didn't like the sling placement, I think it was too far down the screen. Another 50+ pixels up would do it for me, I think.

You need some sort of bonus for multi-hits! I was getting 2 with 1 melon, and wondering why there was nothing popping up with "2x bonus' or something. I was distinctly piqued when I did not get a bonus for getting 3 in one shot. Reward me when I do something clever!!

And speaking of rewards, I would try pop those rewards out, e.g. when you shoot a box of tnt, there's a cool explosion, then a tiny green '+50' (or something). Make it bigger, and snazzier looking.

Another grouch would be that I didn't know I could change weapons until I read your post. It seems I have to use the keyboard, for a game that otherwise, uses entirely mouse control?

I think it'd be best to at least give the mouse ability to do all the actions, even if you hang onto the keyboard short-cuts.

I quit somewhere near the point where I got to level 6 melon. The game seemed to reset, I was seeing the same easy waves that I first faced. After everything I'd been through, I was ready to take on elephants&sharks, this was too great a change of pace for me. :S

Anyway, aside from those gripes, (and designer conflicts :S) this is a rockin' game. What's the plan for it? If I'm not mistaken, that looks very mobile-phone-ish.

edit: Do I get a bonus for a perfect defense round?

[paulisere]

Hi

I played on this a while back and I never got round to post what I thought.

I like this game.  It's simple and fun.  When I was playing I instantly thought this was something I would want on my mobile phone.  It's not a game I could see myself playing for ages but something I would definitely pick up when I had a couple of minutes on the train, waiting for a bus, etc.

The only thing I wasn't sure on was the variation of power on the sling shot.  I wasn't sure what it was for.  Since I am always shooting up, I didn't see any point in having less power.  In a game like angry birds, power is going to effect the trajectory since the shots are over a distance horizontally.   In this game everything is coming vertical so I only wanted to fire up and through everything.

Other than that, this was a really cool game.  Graphics looked great and the whole thing felt really slick.

Paul