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[fearless_donut]

Hi guys.

Aether Way is a space strategy with action/roguelike elements.


The game's devlog is here:https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=63979.0

You can download the game here:https://www.indiedb.com/games/aether-way/downloads/aetherway-0-96demo

System requirements: 10 years old pc is enough.



Thanks.

[Le Slo]

Hello!

I've been trying to play your game for an hour or so, I'll try to answer some of your questions:

  - Is it hard to understand what to do in this game?

Yes. I wasn't able to finish the tutorial for now (I'll try to play again sometime later to give you a more profound feedback), it is a bit difficult to follow what to do as information comes in different ways. For example the first time I was stuck with the "movement tutorial" for a while until I knew I had to click on the tutorial window to make the game tell me more information. Also sometimes "open the X menu" isn't enough information to know where I can find that menu. In general I think you need to rework on the GUI, not only because sometime text aren't beautifully aligned, but because it is not very intuitive (you have tabs with an X button to close them, others don't, some buttons doesn't look like buttons, text or icons are difficult to see in some cases...). I guess tool tips could be a good format to show info, having the ability to unable them.

  - Is the game too hard/easy to play(guessing you've choosen Normal difficulty)?

I'm not sure yet, I have lost every try on the tutorial not because the game looks harsh but because I wasn't sure what I was doing.

  - Is the tutorial level boring/too long?

Don't know yet, for know I'll just say a bit confusing. I have to say I never play strategy games with a lot of systems interacting with each other, I usually find them tedious to get started.

I think the background is too bright and make difficult to spot the mist that damage the units. How and when objects (enemies, asteroids, planets...) appear was a bit unexpected, maybe it's because i'm not sure how the scan function works properly. I liked traveling around the universe, specially reaching the turbo zones (I think the units rotate too fast when they have their speed increased). Music is relaxing and I found graphics (the planets with their flowers and units around them specially) really beautiful.


I hope this helps you somehow! I think you should focus on making the game more accessible and readable, but I can see how much work you putted already on the game. Good work!

[fearless_donut]

Thank you very much for the feedback! It really helps me a lot!
Actually i was feeling the similar thoughts about the tutorial and now i have the strength to admit i have to greatly update the help system and gui. Right now the game is too harsh to new players and that's what i've just found.

[fearless_donut]

Hi. I released new demo version.
There are a lot of changes and fixes, i also slightly imroved the UI, added some tips, made the tutorial simpler and i hope the gameplay will be more clear now.

AetherWay 0.9.3. demo    https://www.indiedb.com/games/aether-way/downloads/aetherway0-9-3demo
or   https://fearless-donut.itch.io/aether-way   

I'm still not sure if this game is good or bad, i feel it may be a little difficult for the new players since not all aspects of the game are clearly stated. So i really appreciate any feedback i can get.

[MSThalamus]

I think this game has a lot of potential. It instilled a mood and made me curious about the story very early on. A very good start!

Praise:

1) It's nice to see the Settings dialog in a game this early in development! In any game, the first thing I do is mess with settings.

2) I _really_ like the music!

3) I love the mood instilled by the intro description of the sun and the music that plays behind it.

4) I like the multi-layered graphical presentation.

Constructive Feedback:

1) Would benefit from a teaser splash screen via a launcher EXE. On my dev box, it looked like nothing was happening for about four seconds, and people's average machine is much slower than mine.

2) Locking the cursor to the monitor when the game is in Fullscreen mode would be a good idea. You can add a Fullscreen (Windowed) mode so the cursor can be free to move out of that monitor when people want it to.

3) Are you using DX9? I would think so given how long it takes to switch to Fullscreen mode. You might want to consider DX11. Among many other things, it switches to Fullscreen mode almost instantly. It does strange things with Fullscreen at other than optimal resolutions, though, which can cause problems when translating screen coordinates between Windows and your game engine, should you ever need to.

4) The background "sci-fi" sound loop has a pop at the end, so it's obvious when it loops.

5) In the Settings dialog, Apply closes the dialog.

6) Why not close the drop down list when the player selects a resolution? Are you sure Apply is uncovered in every possible resolution, even 4:3 aspect?

7) Sound volume seems to have no effect.

8 ) Might want the headers in your options list (e.g. "Select your form") to look different from the options below it. (If you're already doing so, but it's by color only, it would explain why I can't tell-- I'm colorbind.)

9) Music seemed a little overcompressed-- sounded a bit tinny.

10) Grammatically, it should be "beyond it", not "beyond of it." Overall, your English is very good, but you might want to find a native English speaker to proofread your text.

11) I get as far as "Move the Heart here" but I don't know what to do next. Maybe I just wasn't paying enough attention. But I tried the usual WASD, arrow keys, moving and clicking the mouse. Moving the mouse far enough scrolled the screen, which is nice except that I was trying to move it to the next monitor so I could type this note. (It might be a good idea to stop scrolling when the mouse cursor leaves the game window confines). I'll have to look again at what the controls are, but using a control system similar to the majority of games out there would make your game easier to learn.

12) A Windowed mode might be nice too.

Unfortunately, I ran out of time!

[fearless_donut]

Hey. Thank you a lot for the feedback. It's really a big help.
I was so accustomed to the game's standard settings so i missed some bugs here.
 
    
11) I get as far as "Move the Heart here" but I don't know what to do next.
   - This thing worries me the most. It's a dead end for the game if a player can't complete its tutorial. I'm not sure what happened, but to be sure - did you click on the heart before trying to move it? It's a strategy game and to control the unit you should select it by mouse first. When unit is selected, you can move it either by using mouse or by arrow(by default) keys on a keyboard. If it's about "not clicking" problem - i'm relieved and i should just mention it more accurate in the help next time. If it's not - i have some big problems solving why my units do not follow players commands. Can you please give me more details on this case.
   
1) Would benefit from a teaser splash screen via a launcher EXE.
   - You are right. The game is starting for 20 seconds on my 'not so fast' pc. It's probably because i'm not using atlases for the most of textures and there are too much files to load. I'll try to reduce loading time or add a spash screen as you suggest.
 
3) Are you using DX9?
   - Actually, i don't know ). In the beginning this project used Unity, but right now it's on Monogame and i'm not sure if it even supports DX11.
   
10) Grammatically, it should be "beyond it", not "beyond of it."
   - Thanks for pointing this out. Yea, my "engrish" is still in progress, but to make a mistake in the first phrase - i'm not too proud of myself right now . Proofreading is, of course, the best thing and i'll try to find some way of doing this after all text will be ready.
   
6) Are you sure Apply is uncovered in every possible resolution, even 4:3 aspect?
   - Actually, i just ask my framework about supported resolutions and show them all. They seem to be working on my pc though. The screen looks very stretched when i use 4:3 res on my widescreen monitor but it works.

12) A Windowed mode might be nice too.
   - Hm, it should be working now, you need to uncheck "Fullscreen mode" in graphics settings and then choose an appropriate resolution like 800:600, then press 'Apply' - and the game should be windowed. I have some misleading behaviour of 'Apply' and 'Close' buttons, but i'll fix it in future.
   
9) Music seemed a little overcompressed-- sounded a bit tinny.
   - I don't think it's about the compression, probably i should use better instrument samples because the music is originally in midi. I'll look into it.

It instilled a mood and made me curious about the story very early on
   - Oh, sorry to say that, but there is not much story in it - this game is a rather hardcore strategy that totally concentrated on a gameplay, meaning that most of the time you will be controlling your armies or shoting enemies. If you didn't play eufloria, it's like controlling a beehive but in space. Maybe some day i'll create simple story but right now you can just find some fragments of the world's description when talking to some 'living beings'.
   
I _really_ like the music
   - Glad you liked it, though there is probably no one to be praised for it - this music has no author, it's autogenerated. Sometimes i experiment with music generation algorithms and they give me such simplistic melodies and in rare times a melody may sound not too bad and i use it in this game.
   
If you need me to playtest something, let me know

[MSThalamus]

11) I didn't click the heart first. Since it's the tutorial, maybe a "click here" sign? Or have it flash, or some other way to draw attention to it. Likely I just didn't read your text carefully enough-- but I won't be the only one who does this.

1) I had to add a launcher EXE and teaser splash screen for the same reason, so if your load time stays high, don't be concerned about that. I ended up doing some competitive analysis and measured the load times of AAA games, and they're all huge! A teaser splash helps tell the player "yes, something's happening. Please be patient."

10) It likely, once you have the copy all written out, that you could find a volunteer to help proofread.

The music: If you're not already using them, you could check out JukeDeck.com. They have algorithms that produce music in various genres that is often good and occasionally brilliant.

Thanks for offering to play test! I have a project I'm working on, but I haven't posted it here yet, because I think it's about a year from being in a state I'll think ready to draw a lot of attention to it. You can find its latest release announcement here: http://www.dawnofthefel.com/blogs/game-progress/pre-alpha-milestone-2.93-for-the-win If you can check it out, I'd appreciate it!

[fearless_donut]

I didn't click the heart first

Thanks for answering. I'll definitely add the 'click here' sign. And i've sent you a PM with small feedback on your game.

[fearless_donut]

Hey. New demo version is available. More than a year have passed since the last one so there is huge amount of changes.

https://www.indiedb.com/games/aether-way/downloads/aetherway-0-96demo
Any feedback is appreciated