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TIGSource ForumsDeveloperPlaytestingAlien Shoot Game - retro first person shooter with a kill chain system
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Author Topic: Alien Shoot Game - retro first person shooter with a kill chain system  (Read 1052 times)
HopeMetal
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« on: December 27, 2022, 05:37:01 AM »

Hi. I would like to get feedback on the retro FPS game I have been working on. I am testing a prototype level. The end can be reached but sometimes one door breaks and doesn't open when it looks like all enemies were killed in the room (maybe some other places have this bug too). Also open doors don't close again if you die and restart from a checkpoint. Mostly I am interested in finding out if the weapon powerup system is fun or interesting and if its understandable.

Link to itch.io: https://hopem.itch.io/alien-shoot-game-test?secret=MB3eGuxXkiS9ESQ1QiYV3M1RIjQ

There is a link to a Google form I made to collect responses on the itch page. If you have any other comments that the form didn't cover you can post them in this thread.
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DarkGran
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« Reply #1 on: December 27, 2022, 06:41:42 AM »

Hi!  Smiley



First let me applaud the models. The map itself is clearly a placeholder, but the minions are smoooooooth. Kudos if you've made those yourself.  Gentleman
(Kinda surprised that the game also ran absolutely smoothly, even though my PC usually cannot take any kind of high quality graphics)

It kinda explains why the game has 600MB (unpacked) even though it's made in Godot (which has 30-70MB). But only kinda - I still suspect that you are exporting more resources than you actually use in the game. I know it's not really a dealbreaker, but if you game keeps growing, you might reach sizes that people will not want to download (as it may take forever).

I like shooters, so overall I had fun. The gameplay definitely needs work though, including the shooting itself.
Notes I've made on the playthrough:
- Switching between animations is pretty hectic. Godot has a super-easy solution for this - set "Animation Blend" on your animation player and all the transitions between animations will become smooth (interpolated). (you can also set custom blends through code)
- Often when something appears for the first time, the game staggers as it loads. This might be a fault of the current version of Godot (shader issue), however it may be because of how you handle the resources: Always be sure to use "preload" instead of "load" in Godot.
- The particles are not "running" unless I am watching them. (Shooting and turning around "pauses" them, they proceed only when I look at em again) This might be connected to how the particle visibility AABB is setup. Whatever the issue behind it, I'm certain that this is solvable with how the particles are set up in Godot.
- When shooting, the aim goes up, as expected because of the recoil. However, in all shooters, when you stop shooting, the "recoil effect" resets and the aim goes down. (Without it, the player is forced to constantly move his mouse down, which is annoying very quickly)
- It seems the weapons shoot below the crosshair (not talking about fall-off, but where the shots actually spawn).

As for any special mechanics - I did not notice any. I know there was a "chain" written and there was a timer-bar in middle of the screen, but I did not notice any changes to my weapons. As far as I was aware, there were no special mechanics nor pickups (not counting simple medpacks and ammo) except that the game applauded my chain-kills. I also did not figure out if it's possible to spend the cash that I'm getting.

I've also filled in the Google form, which made me admit that I did not actually finish the game. After clearing the room where you encounter green lizards for the first time (after the turret boss - whose remnants looked absolutely excellent again, professional models to my eye, seriously), the door, unfortunately, did not open (happened twice):


Good job overall, I think it's a nice base for a shooter, it just needs some polish... and obviously more content (like the level visuals). Shame I did not find out what the special mechanics are.  Tongue

Good luck with it! Coffee
« Last Edit: December 28, 2022, 05:43:50 AM by DarkGran » Logged
HopeMetal
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« Reply #2 on: December 28, 2022, 02:54:42 AM »

Thanks for checking out the game! Yes, I did make most of the models myself (although for the aliens I started from a free basemesh). The game's size is pretty big because I do export all resources (from laziness I guess, probably should export only those that are seen in a specific build I make), but I do have a more finished level, I could send you a build with that if you'd like to try it (might not run well on your computer since it has some slowdown even on my GTX 1060 and i5 8400). With this level I was looking to find a better progression through the game (but at the start it was to just put as many ideas as I currently had to see if it was enough to make a full game, so the level isn't complete in that regard).

For the animations, do you mean the enemy animations or the weapon animations?

The slowdown when spawning stuff is (I suspect) because of how Godot compiles shaders. iirc Miziziziz had similar issues with Wrought Flesh also made in Godot.

The doors not opening sometimes is also a known issue, it happened for me with a different door and also for my brother with the same door as you.

The particles are also something I am aware of, just didn't get around to fixing them.

The recoil and crosshair are good points though.

And the special mechanics are in the game but I will still tweak them.
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DarkGran
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« Reply #3 on: December 28, 2022, 05:40:19 AM »

For the animations, do you mean the enemy animations or the weapon animations?

Sorry forgot to say, I meant the player weapon animations (standing x walking with it x shooting).

The slowdown when spawning stuff is (I suspect) because of how Godot compiles shaders. iirc Miziziziz had similar issues with Wrought Flesh also made in Godot.

Yeah that's a bit unfortunate, I'm aware of this issue, fighting it myself, was kinda hoping ("for your sake" Tongue) that this won't be the case. Sad
(Godot Issue #13954  No No NO)
One workaround I found out is to "force" using the shader right after the level loads (like, spawn a single particle with it, somewhere where the player can't actually see). This forces the stagger to happen at the very start instead of during the game.
Not really a solution obviously, but I personally find the "stagger on launch" more acceptable than "stagger when playing"... Cool

Fortunately, if you read the issue I linked, you will find out that it's been fixed already. Smiley Just gotta wait a bit for the fix to become an "official release" (unless you want to compile the master version yourself). Wink
(At least I think it's not in any of the releases yet, did not check for a while.)

And the special mechanics are in the game but I will still tweak them.

I was hoping you could tell us what those mechanics are. Noir Grin
(Shooters have always been one of my main genres, and I've seen some real interesting ideas here on the forums, that's why I'm so curious Wink)
« Last Edit: December 28, 2022, 09:49:32 AM by DarkGran » Logged
HopeMetal
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« Reply #4 on: December 29, 2022, 01:55:08 AM »

Yeah, Godot 3.5 already has async shader compilation and shader caching (which I have enabled already, so it doesn't completely fix the issue so some tweaks might be needed)

And the special mechanics are tied to the chain system: getting 20 kills in a short amount of time will temporarily give your weapons some special effects to make them more powerful.
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DarkGran
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« Reply #5 on: December 31, 2022, 11:02:48 AM »

Yeah, Godot 3.5 already has async shader compilation and shader caching (which I have enabled already, so it doesn't completely fix the issue so some tweaks might be needed)

Yeah I can see now there are some more (unclosed) issues... well, I'm staying hopeful (maybe someone will manage to fully fix it in time for 4.x?). Wink
('Til then... the above mentioned workaround kinda worked for me so far.)

And the special mechanics are tied to the chain system: getting 20 kills in a short amount of time will temporarily give your weapons some special effects to make them more powerful.

I guess 20 is a high number considering the amount of enemies in the level. Maybe I would notice the mechanics if they were visible early on (even after just 1 kill), just a little at first, but growing with each additional kill... Wink Just a suggestion. Smiley
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jbarrios
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« Reply #6 on: January 23, 2023, 08:51:07 PM »

Hey HopeMetal,

I played your game



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HopeMetal
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« Reply #7 on: January 31, 2023, 01:22:34 AM »

Hey HopeMetal,

I played your game
Glad you had fun with it! A few things I'd like to mention:
1. The amount of ammo the weapons can hold was pretty low in this version (punching enemies gives some shotgun ammo, but its not easy to pull off), but its increased now.
2. You do have a grenade in this game (thrown with the middle mouse button). Its just disabled in this test because I had planned that you would get the grenade later, but maybe you should get it early.
3. The door not opening at the end is a known problem. I fixed it by killing enemies that fall out of the level.

I actually have a new build uploaded to the itch page of a later level if you'd like to try that (where you do have the grenade).
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