Hi jbarrios,
I have followed some of your other review videos in the past and you always give feedback in such a positive and constructive way. Getting feedback like this from a person who tries to take a nice objective look at your game is a rare gift. Thank you very much for your video reviews, they are truly heart-warming and helpful!
Let's get to it, you brought up at lot in the video. I will try to "address" it all here. Some sparked new questions in my head which I would be delighted if you (or some other interested reader) could comment on.
That little side comment in the beginning "that's a good looking torch". You don't even know how nice it was to hear that :D
In total I can only take partial credit for the nice art. Most of the spring and winter assets were done by Manu and Yury from
TidalFlask. They are really lovely (both their assets and they themselves).
1) The final game will probably have a title screen. I just had no the time to do a proper one for this demo. I try to call it a pre-alpha because there are not even all the features in yet.
2) You mentioned "Trials" as an example for controls (being able to turn in the air). I'll change the default controls to match that game.
I try to introduce the controls slowly, maybe too slow.
3) I have now learned that the crashes are not well communicated. It just shows the restart menu. In future versions you will not crash as easily. Right now it crashes the moment you touch anything with your helmet. I am thinking about changing that to "impact only" crashing.
QUESTION: Did you know that you can restart from the last flag pole (checkpoint)? You always restarted from the beginning. I assume that was on purpose.
4) The "turn left" tutorial got skipped unintentionally. I will have to address that. It simply closes as soon as you hit "A".
5) I am happy that knocking the goal post over got your attention. I deliberately put it in there, glad it worked out.
6) You are reading more text than any other player I have seen. Usually players just read about 5-7 words and then skip the whole screen.
For those interested, here is a nice video by Daniel Cook about how much people actually read (and his is kind of a story heavy game, so for mine it's even worse):
7) The main menu (tab bar at the bottom) seems to confuse many people. I will have to work on that.
8 ) You read all the challenges, that's a first :D
9) Display of your place and distance to other players will come in future versions.
10) The bike is still turning too much backwards during the race. You said nothing but corrected your rotation multiple times (especially in the air). I think the desire for air control early in the tutorial also stems from that. Will try to address this.
11) The camera. Ah yes, the elephant in the control room. It's fully dynamic right now with points of interest, easing etc. but there is still work to be done. Thanks for your ideas.
For those interested in camera work, here are some good talks I found:
Vid1:
Vid2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdvCO97jOQkVid3 (primarily about camera shake):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu-Qe66AvtY12) I think I will have to show the "R" key while flying in the first few levels so players will remember.
13) It's funny you mentioned "exploration", "capture the flag" and "collecting things" as game modes you would like to see because these are exactly the modes which are coming in future versions
Points for stunts are not planned at the moment but making stunts will show a label ("back flip", "wheely") and recharge your booster (reward).
14) What's the USP? You asked in a kinder way but still, that's a very good question.
The original prototype contained a jetpack, a teleporter, a booster, a gravity gun, a shrink ray, cloud-wheels, bouncy-wheels, a time machine, a force-field generator, an "eject" button, a "dash forward" jump, an item magnet and some rockets.
I decided to make the glider my USPs in terms of mechanics and exploration and items (not yet in the demo) are there to spice up the overall gameplay. I chose the name "Airborne" to strengthen that "let's fly with a bike" appeal. If this will suffice, I am not sure.
If you have any ideas for USP improvement. I am all ears!
Once again, thank you..
Developer
