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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperPlaytestingPolychoron - A 6-degrees-of-freedom shooter in open beta testing
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Author Topic: Polychoron - A 6-degrees-of-freedom shooter in open beta testing  (Read 3712 times)
fractilegames
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« on: September 13, 2020, 01:35:06 AM »





Polychoron is a simple but challenging zero-gravity 3D shoot'em up in endless series of unique mazes. Designed for hassle-free short game sessions. Available on Windows, Linux, Android and Web.

Navigate your way through mazes filled with hostile drones and deadly machinery. Survive longer, take out more hostiles and collect more score than others to get your name on the global high score table.

Website: https://www.fractilegames.com/polychoron/

Downloads on Itch.io: https://fractilegames.itch.io/polychoron

Web version on GotM.io: https://gotm.io/fractilegames/polychoron (Note: Native versions run and look better)

The game is currently in development and I'm looking for feedback!



« Last Edit: August 15, 2021, 10:27:15 PM by fractilegames » Logged

marcAKAmarc
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« Reply #1 on: September 20, 2020, 06:30:55 AM »

Pretty fun game!  I'm new to the 6 degrees of freedom thing, but was able to get the hang of it pretty easily.  I only got up to level 2 at this point, but I was losing interest at that point with the somewhat repetitive gameplay (unless I gave up before gameplay changes occurred).  That said, I think the FPS w/ six degrees of freedom is a solid core gameplay mechanic and this serves as a solid proof of concept Hand Thumbs Up Left.

I also had some difficulty with getting lost.  It may come with the disorientation for someone that is new to the six degrees of freedom thing, but I would suggest having different parts of the level be textured differently so that players can quickly say 'oh I've been here.  I just didn't recognize it cause I'm upside down.'

Some ideas:
Varying spaces - maybe spaces that are more wide open.
Enemies that follow or run away?
Might be cool to have to switch between standard gravitational fps and this free floating style.
Other standard game mechanics - weapons upgrades, hidden rooms, maps, keys for doors, environmental dangers.  I'm pretty much thinking you could apply any mechanic from the original doom to this.
Maybe some challenges where you have to defend a certain area for a certain amount of time, or some fast navigational challenges?  Get from button A to B in less than X seconds to open a door?



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marcAKAmarc
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« Reply #2 on: September 20, 2020, 06:43:57 AM »

Also, I had a pretty hard time finding a way to kill one of the drones.  It seemed to be hidden in a corridor that was completely shut off by those laser barriers.  In the end, I died because I was standing too close to a laser barrier while it fired at me.  This was level 3.

I found myself playing in manner focused around tactics - I would commonly just poke my head around a corner for a second or two, then take cover again. I think it would be cool if the player had more of a reason to play loose and fast from time to time. 

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fractilegames
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« Reply #3 on: September 20, 2020, 08:58:29 AM »

First of all, thank you for the feedback!

I also had some difficulty with getting lost.  It may come with the disorientation for someone that is new to the six degrees of freedom thing, but I would suggest having different parts of the level be textured differently so that players can quickly say 'oh I've been here.  I just didn't recognize it cause I'm upside down.'

Some ideas:
Varying spaces - maybe spaces that are more wide open.
Enemies that follow or run away?
Might be cool to have to switch between standard gravitational fps and this free floating style.
Other standard game mechanics - weapons upgrades, hidden rooms, maps, keys for doors, environmental dangers.  I'm pretty much thinking you could apply any mechanic from the original doom to this.
Maybe some challenges where you have to defend a certain area for a certain amount of time, or some fast navigational challenges?  Get from button A to B in less than X seconds to open a door?


Getting lost in the maze is a common complaint. I initially planned to have differently colored areas in the maze to help navigation but I never managed to make it look good enough so I dropped it. When I later decided to go with fixed small maze size (5x5x5, compared to varying size up to 8x8x8), I thought navigation would be easy enough. I will give that color coding another try.

Another thing I hear a lot is that the game is too repetitive. I'm planning to add some more enemies and visual level variation but I'm somewhat limited in this regard. This is basically a high score shooter with (intentionally) relative short gameplay runs, so if the levels get too different between runs, the final score depends more on "luck" in level generation than player skill. I can, however,  add variation between levels (add new levels/puzzles in higher levels) but that doesn't help with first levels of the game always looking quite similar.

Quote from: marcAKAmarc
Also, I had a pretty hard time finding a way to kill one of the drones.  It seemed to be hidden in a corridor that was completely shut off by those laser barriers.  In the end, I died because I was standing too close to a laser barrier while it fired at me.  This was level 3.
The level generation may create sections completely blocked by laser screens but at least one of the screens should always have its "power boxes" outside the area so that it can be disabled. Could be a bug.

Quote from: marcAKAmarc
I found myself playing in manner focused around tactics - I would commonly just poke my head around a corner for a second or two, then take cover again. I think it would be cool if the player had more of a reason to play loose and fast from time to time.

This makes my happy. Often players just rush into action, die quickly and give up. I've been trying to find ways to direct players towards more careful and tactical play style.

I would like to make the "run and gun" approach more usable but I don't want to force it on player. I'm aiming for somewhat "stress-free" gameplay where player can stop and catch breath behind corners and not have to worry about getting ambushed (no freely moving enemies, for example). I know this is a bit contradictory with players expectations for a shooter game. I'm not entirely sure this is a good idea Facepalm

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« Reply #4 on: September 22, 2020, 01:22:41 PM »

Hi fractilegames,

I played your game and recorded my thoughts:



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fractilegames
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« Reply #5 on: September 23, 2020, 07:55:48 AM »

Hi fractilegames,

I played your game and recorded my thoughts:





Thank you! It is invaluable seeing people actually play the game and struggle with it Smiley

One thing has become clear to me with this current alpha version: The game needs to be much more intuitive and better communicate how things work and what the objectives are. It should be clear to the player that this is primarily a high score shooter and you're supposed to collect as many of those green things as possible (the X is a multiplier). I could add a tutorial level but I've been hoping to avoid that..

There will be a controls help screen after I have implemented configurable controls. Currently the controls are only documented in readme.txt -file that no-one reads (can't blame them). By the way, the pitch direction can be inverted in settings menu.

The game intentionally encourages more careful and tactical approach than traditional 6DOF games. I'm trying to make the "zipping though" approach more practical but currently it usually gets you killed quickly.

I have never seen the keyboard delay you experienced. I really hope it's not a bug in the game because that would make it practically unplayable Shocked
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fractilegames
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« Reply #6 on: October 30, 2020, 08:10:30 AM »

Polychoron 0.0.7 alpha was released today!

This is a big update that adds new features and addresses many of the problems discussed here.

Release notes: https://www.fractilegames.com/posts/20201030-polychoron-0.0.7-alpha-released/

Link to downloads: https://fractilegames.itch.io/polychoron#download





Changes since the previous version (0.0.6):

  • Added new patrolling enemy type shooting slow projectiles.
  • Added two more random decorative meshes on maze walls.
  • Added notification sound on HUD messages.
  • Added ship start-up animation sequence.
  • Made laser beams cause the same amount of damage over time independent of frame rate.
  • Improved particles emission at laser beam contacts.
  • Limited sentry gun field of view to 180 degrees while looking for targets.
  • Sentry guns looking for target turn to direction of damage if shot.
  • Made sentry guns a bit easier to destroy.
  • Mines turn towards player and blink when triggered.
  • "Fixed" weird white pixels wandering on screen at level start on some PCs.
  • Rotate projectiles as they move.
  • Added slightly different wall colors in parts of the maze to ease navigation.
  • Added varying shininess to wall textures.
  • Fixed spark particles not fading out smoothly.
  • Emit colored spark particles on projectile hits.
  • Flash laser screen white and play a sound when its power box is damaged.
  • Flash all power boxes of a laser screen white when one of them is damaged.
  • Place laser screen power boxes a bit closer to it.
  • Fixed dark blue HUD text using GLES2 renderer.
  • Added HUD scale adjustment in settings menu.
  • Hide inactive teleports completely to prevent confusion.
  • Changed default (not inverted) pitch control direction to match most other games.
  • Added control bindings menu for remapping controls.
  • Fixed settings not being saved if closing menu instead of leaving settings page.
  • Added sounds to menu interaction.
  • Add pitch inversion quick toggle by F2.
  • Added controller guide overlay (press F1 to toggle).
  • Show completion page with statistics on death without high score too.
  • Added a short fade in animation when opening menu.
  • Use different target detection sound pitch for different enemy types.
  • Keep enemy weapon damage constant between levels (does not increase anymore).
  • Halved initial sentry gun projectile speed.
  • Activate level completion teleports in the unlikely case that level contains no enemies.
  • Added lightning symbols to power boxes.
  • Apply small impulse from projectiles to hit objects, including the player.
  • Added jammer module power-up that disables all enemies for a while.
« Last Edit: November 01, 2020, 02:03:34 AM by fractilegames » Logged

FelipeQuevici
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« Reply #7 on: November 05, 2020, 03:48:27 PM »

Never player a 6 degrees of freedom game, and It's fun! Quite complicated, I'm sure i did not get the most of at least 2 of those degrees, but it's fun!

I got a little bit lost, but overall the levels where small enough that i randomly would encounter a drone so it was not really a problem, and the teleport purple light is visible from pretty far too.

I personally did not the get objective (only after reading here that it's a high score shooter),  so while i had a lot of fun moving around and trying to make the most of it, i did not understand why i was doing that.

There is a lot of potential in there, the core gameplay is fun, wish you luck!

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fractilegames
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« Reply #8 on: November 06, 2020, 12:19:10 AM »

Thank you for your feedback!

I personally did not the get objective (only after reading here that it's a high score shooter),  so while i had a lot of fun moving around and trying to make the most of it, i did not understand why i was doing that.

This is a big problem that I have to fix. I need to find ways to tell/hint player what the objective is. The most straightforward way is to add a message at level start that instructs the player to "collect green score items". I would like to also add more subtle hints that make the objective obvious. Do you have any suggestions?

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FelipeQuevici
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« Reply #9 on: November 24, 2020, 06:33:05 AM »

One thing you could do is make the score label bigger, so we know it's more important, also make some text in the begging like "ready, set, beat your score" i don't know, that should not be really hard to figure out, even a text prompt could do. And adding a lot of little hints is probably the way to go.
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« Reply #10 on: December 19, 2020, 03:38:53 AM »

I'm having a pretty good time with this one!

As far as getting lost goes, I agree I find myself wandering around a little trying to get my bearings. The slight color coded system isn't too apparent (maybe due to the saturation), but it definitely helps. If something else is needed, maybe the addition of more environment objects? The laser gates (open or not) was my best bet at navigating, so more 'decoration' might help. Given the 6DF nature, maybe objects that obviously show which way it's oriented to help with recognising where you are and have been?

I only felt lost when I was trying to find enemies, though, so if there was some way of making them easier to track down - or if there was a method of tracking them down - players might not even notice they don't know where they are, since they only need to know where they're going.
The glow and sound of the teleport at the end of a level was a great indicator of where it was if I was a bit too far from it, maybe something like that applied to enemies might make finding them into more of an activity than a walk-around-and-find-out thing?
The colored glow could also be something environment objects have to make areas look more different, it certainly made the 'room' the teleporter was in look cool.

I have no idea what most of the powerups do or what the numbers on the GUI mean, but I liked watching the EMP stun stuff and my numbers go up. I noticed the pause menu gives some hints but I don't always make the connection between a powerup name and its icon (the only way it manifests in the game space). Maybe a more in-depth explanation somewhere?
I assumed/hoped something was going to replenish my health - It took a little too long for me to realise the percentage on the right was an indicator. The glitching-out is a fantastic way of showing it, in any case.
Going back and adding this to this paragraph after another 20mins or so - just got the hint that said the ship can't be repaired. Oh well!

The music for the menus is great, I actually wish there was more of it during the game. Maybe when a fight is instigated (you shoot or get shot by an enemy) some fight music plays, draws you into the tension or something? Idk I might just be a sucker for the genre you're using.
I think I'm also just jonesing for one more audio layer, maybe more for the ship as a sci-fi craft. The sounds of jets moving you around makes sense, but given the rest of the aesthetic maybe something more tech-y or bassy for the ship's movement - maybe even a kind of hum while it's idle.

I'm definitely having a great time with it so far, though, definitely looking forward to future updates/releases.
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fractilegames
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« Reply #11 on: December 19, 2020, 07:32:26 AM »

Thank you for the detailed reply!

I'm having a pretty good time with this one!

As far as getting lost goes, I agree I find myself wandering around a little trying to get my bearings. The slight color coded system isn't too apparent (maybe due to the saturation), but it definitely helps. If something else is needed, maybe the addition of more environment objects? The laser gates (open or not) was my best bet at navigating, so more 'decoration' might help. Given the 6DF nature, maybe objects that obviously show which way it's oriented to help with recognising where you are and have been?

I only felt lost when I was trying to find enemies, though, so if there was some way of making them easier to track down - or if there was a method of tracking them down - players might not even notice they don't know where they are, since they only need to know where they're going.
The glow and sound of the teleport at the end of a level was a great indicator of where it was if I was a bit too far from it, maybe something like that applied to enemies might make finding them into more of an activity than a walk-around-and-find-out thing?
The colored glow could also be something environment objects have to make areas look more different, it certainly made the 'room' the teleporter was in look cool.

I have no idea what most of the powerups do or what the numbers on the GUI mean, but I liked watching the EMP stun stuff and my numbers go up. I noticed the pause menu gives some hints but I don't always make the connection between a powerup name and its icon (the only way it manifests in the game space). Maybe a more in-depth explanation somewhere?
I assumed/hoped something was going to replenish my health - It took a little too long for me to realise the percentage on the right was an indicator.

I will probably be adding some more random decorations that can be used as landmarks. Also, I've been planning to test a "HUD label" system that shows text labels and highlights on items. If this goes well, it could identify the power-ups and perhaps I could even use it for a power-up that shows enemy locations through walls..

As for the numbers on the GUI, the help screen shown on the first run (and togglable with F1) tries to explain them. One problem with that is that people usually hide it and forget about it.

The next Godot engine version will allow a lot more dynamic lights in the desktop versions of the game, so I can probably use them to add some more color to the maze too.
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fractilegames
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« Reply #12 on: February 03, 2021, 06:23:35 AM »

Polychoron alpha 0.0.9

It's been quiet for a while here but a new big alpha (0.0.9) update is out now!

Release notes: https://www.fractilegames.com/posts/20210202-polychoron-0.0.9-alpha-released/

Direct link to downloads on Itch.io: https://fractilegames.itch.io/polychoron





Change log:

  • Added two new unique wall texture variants to serve as landmarks in levels
  • Added laser beam weapon power-up
  • Added extra blaster weapon power-up
  • Added a shield to laser sentry gun to make it vulnerable only when it's shooting
  • Tweaked laser sentry gun shoot/aim timing to be more consistent
  • Added charge sound to laser sentry gun
  • Added more HUD messages to instruct new players
  • Made damage glitch effect fade out slowly while not taking damage
  • Minor tweaking to red flash effect to better show the direction of damage
  • Limit some ship module power-ups to higher levels only
  • Tweaked all enemies to turn a little faster
  • Added a sound to laser beams powering up
  • Made patrolling enemy type a little bit stronger
  • Made all enemies remember player location longer after losing line of sight
  • Tweaked camera shakes to be slightly shorter but more aggressive
  • Trigger temporary glitch effects on nearby "electric" explosions
  • Moved screenshot saving to a separate thread to prevent frame drops
  • Added one more particle layer to explosions to make them "beefier"
  • Improved explosion fragment spawning pattern
  • Show HUD messages when reaching major global high score ranks
  • Added a tip showing required scores for a new global high scores
  • Increased the maximum number of simultaneous dynamic lights
  • Added a separate shoot button to touch screen controls (can be hidden in settings)
  • Added noise to materials when using GLES2 renderer (web) to hide the ugly banding effect
  • Allow choosing the type of anti-aliasing (MSAA 4/8x, FXAA)
  • Disabled anti-aliasing by default
  • Improved HUD scaling and positioning on different aspect ratio screens
  • Redesigned HUD crosshair to indicate destructible enemy objects





Official game page: https://www.fractilegames.com/polychoron/
« Last Edit: February 03, 2021, 06:30:05 AM by fractilegames » Logged

fractilegames
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« Reply #13 on: April 27, 2021, 05:59:28 AM »

Polychoron alpha update 0.0.10 is out now!



Here's what has changed since 0.0.9:

  • Fixed a crash when picking up jammer module power-up.
  • Trigger mines based on line-of-sight alone.
  • Changed default gamepad movement modifier to L1 button.
  • Use threaded audio in the web version to fix audio latency and jitter.
  • Fixed too dark HUD colors with GLES2 renderer (again).
  • Added kill markers (red crosses) indicating positions of already destroyed drones.
  • Made explosion fragments disappear much faster.
  • Added enemy communication sounds.
  • Added icon file in Windows and Linux packages.
  • Restructured settings menu.
  • Added master and music volume settings.
  • Added custom splash screen at start-up.
  • Fixed laser beam occasionally flashing visible even when not equipped.
  • Don't activate a teleport while it overlaps the player.
  • Made tougher enemy types drop more score.
  • Only give out half the usual score when restarting a level.
  • Flash ship integrity value in HUD when taking damage.
  • Added an emergency repair ship module power-up.
  • Made laser sentry guns power down the beam and raise the shield when losing line of sight.
  • Added enemy-piercing rail gun ship module power-up.
  • Documented ship module power-ups in readme.txt.
  • Use quickly fading emissive material color for explosion fragments.
  • Fixed quickly repeating sound effects cutting off.
  • Added --disable-vsync command line argument.

More information here: https://www.fractilegames.com/polychoron
Downloads are hosted on Itch.io: https://fractilegames.itch.io/polychoron
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« Reply #14 on: July 02, 2021, 11:15:06 PM »

Polychoron has gone beta!

The first beta version 0.1.0 is now available on the game page: https://www.fractilegames.com/polychoron/



Here's a new gameplay trailer:

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« Reply #15 on: July 30, 2021, 02:06:28 AM »

I just tried this and really enjoy it! I got #41 on the leaderboard, might go for #1 later ;-)
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fractilegames
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« Reply #16 on: August 15, 2021, 10:24:47 PM »

I just tried this and really enjoy it! I got #41 on the leaderboard, might go for #1 later ;-)

Thanks, this is really nice to hear!
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« Reply #17 on: August 15, 2021, 10:26:49 PM »

Another beta update (0.1.1) is out with following changes:

  • Added a tip about double-tap-and-shoot gesture for shooting in the mobile version.
  • Increased ambient light and ship spotlight brightness slightly.
  • Fixed wrong titles in video and audio settings menus.
  • Added an optional visible maze wireframe.
  • Removed broken debanding setting in the mobile version.
  • Properly adjust GLES2 renderer lighting for the camera outside level too.
  • Moved virtual shoot button slightly closer to screen center in the mobile version.
  • Added a setting for hiding touch screen control overlays.
  • Use all available screen space for roll control on top left part of the touch screen.
  • Removed confusing red crosses left in place of destroyed drones.
  • Fixed weird colored flashes at level start when global illumination is enabled.
  • Lowered the frequency of emergency repair power-ups on higher levels.
  • Fixed enemies spawning in positions where they are visible from player start point.
  • Made enemies see the player when any part of the ship is visible.
  • Adjusted enemy shoot delays for slightly easier start but faster decrease on higher levels.

More information here: https://www.fractilegames.com/polychoron
Downloads are hosted on Itch.io: https://fractilegames.itch.io/polychoron
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« Reply #18 on: September 22, 2021, 06:10:34 AM »

It's done!

Polychoron is now ready and available on Windows, Linux, Android and Web.

Download here: https://www.fractilegames.com/polychoron/

A new gameplay trailer:


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« Reply #19 on: October 07, 2021, 12:59:51 AM »

this has to be one of the more interesting games i've seen on this site so far, the concept is intriguing, unique (albeit a bit motion-sickness inducing, but nothing i can't handle) and most importantly; fun. props to you good sir!  Gentleman
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