Iteration 11
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For all you wondering about what happended to iteration 11, I have made a blog post: http://www.spellofplay.com/node/341 Feel free to comment... /hObbE |
Submitted by hObbE
Wed, 04/23/2008 - 19:24
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Iteration 11
looking forward to it. can we expect any big boss explosions?
Iteration 11
I'm looking forward to it too. The missiles sound interesting, and I like the fact that you don't have all the abilities from the start now (those early levels were getting a bit easy
).
Iteration 11
We have just managed to get everything working ok now!
T.W.T.P.B. I11 is officially released!
Looking forward to your feedback...
and oh... the boss explosions are somewhat bigger... but I have a new idea for the bosses... will be featured in I12
/hObbE
Iteration 11
I'm sad to say that I quit the game in frustration after trying this iteration
I'm obviously not the best player in the world at TWTPB, but I don't think I totally suck either...
Both losing your wepon upgrades and getting sent back to the beginning of the level (when killed) really annoys me, as mentioned before. I made a few stupid mistakes in level 1, and without the regeneration thing this quickly led to death. I almost quit the game here.
I made it to the boss in level one, but with only the initial weapon (not really sure how this happened). My rapid fire energy quickly ran out, and then it wasn't fun anymore, since the boss both spews bullets and takes a long time to whittle down with the default weapon.
I tried the game again, making it to the boss, and to my surprise the game didn't send me back to the beginning of the level when killed by the boss, but rather reset the boss battle. This really pissed me off, since I had managed to almost kill the boss, and having him reset seemed very unfair.
I know I've said all this before, but in my opinion you should never lose weapon upgrades, and you should never have to restart anything, just have a short invulnerability period after death so you can get out of the way of bullets.
Iteration 11
I tried it again...
This time I got to level 4. I noticed that I got new abilities for each level, but this wasn't communicated anywhere.
The level 3 boss is extremely unfair. If you don't have your rapid fire ready when he shows up you just get killed no matter what.
The missiles are kind of overpowered in my opinion. Granted, they do make up for the difficulty of level 4, but they seem very much like a smartbomb kind of thing that automatically clears the whole screen.
Also, with the 4 abilities, it was very hard to select the right one with the mouse button. Since you also have to watch the top of the screen to see if you select the right one, battle at the same time is very hard to impossible (I can't manade to hold both mouse buttons and scroll and move the mouse at the same time...)
Finally, the level 4 boss spawned on top of me, killing me instantly. I had a life left, but after respawning I immediately collided with some semi-invisible underling to the boss and died again (due to the lack of invulnerability period for new lives), ending my game.
Iteration 11
ho ho ho
Frustration... my favourite feeling! I I thought I was nice when you did not have to battle your way through the entire level if you die on a boss
I guess one problem is the difference in power between the first two weapons. The first upgrade makes you x3 times more powerful... so it's hard to design a boss to suit both levels...
I'm thinking that the bosses maybe also should spawn power pellets... could be interesting...
But my vision for TWTPB is that it should be ultrahard (as shooters once where)... only the brave should be remembered!
I have made a new highscore table for I11:
http://www.spellofplay.com/groups/community/viewHighScore?HcID=33&groupI...
/hObbE
Iteration 11
I agree about the difference between weapon 1 and 2, perhaps a tradeoff would be to have the first weapon fire 2 bullets instead of 1? It isn't fun when you feel impotent
Power pellets from bosses is also probably good, as it would keep the flow of the game similar to when happens in the levels, i.e. as long as you shoot bad guys, you will be rewarded with energy.
Iteration 11
I'll probably not try it until tomorrow, since I have some university stuff that has to be done tomorrow (you'd think a network project would be about networks. But no, it's all about paperwork
)
Iteration 11
I have played it a few times now got passed boss #3 twice. (it covers 75% of the screen and fills the rest with bullets...)
I agree that the weapon upgrade should be more slow first 1 bullet then 2,3 and so on.
need some nice way to see what abillity you have chosen. I do not have time time to read some small text when Im busy doding bullets.
I do NOT agree that it should be ultrahard... why? why should I be that frustrated that I do not want to play it? you lost me there... (where all shooters this hard after just 30sec?)
some kind of warning before the bosses is needed.
twtpb feels more like a game you need to play a lot to learn every enemy wave for each level otherwise you are kinda screwed. is this good or bad?
I will be testing this some more.
Iteration 11
[quote="Spjelk"]twtpb feels more like a game you need to play a lot to learn every enemy wave for each level otherwise you are kinda screwed. is this good or bad?[/quote]
I think that's what it's supposed to be
Iteration 11
it depends on whether you want a broader casual audience or a smaller hardcore fanbase. I'm somewhere in between and really hard stuff usually puts me off whereas challenging could keep me busy trying the same thing for quite a while. I think its important to place it at a good level or give the player a choice depending who he is.
Iteration 11
T.W.T.P.B. is indeed a game you have to spend some time on if you want to get good at it (and that was the general idea). Many people I see playing it are really good at it!
However, I feel the pacing is important, and that the game should gradually get harder. I guess it is maybe a bit to punishing right now so there is definitely some work to be done in that area.
Working on it...
/hObbE
Iteration 11
and muha ha ha
I just took the highscore... playing with only 3 lives... let's see how long that one lasts
Iteration 11
[quote="hObbE"]and muha ha ha
I just took the highscore... playing with only 3 lives... let's see how long that one lasts :P[/quote]
/Nab!
Now it's mine!
Finally a night off when I'm not so tired after work and working out I just pass out before 9.. Tried iteration 11, can't recall if I ever tried I10. I must say I like it, it feels better now, thus my highscore.
I have a few things to nag about as usual though:
First off, there's a typo in one of the mission briefings (between the second and third stage I believe), I can't recall it exactly, but it says "on", and should say "in". Maybe just before something about defences.. hmm, anyhow, you'll find it I'm sure.
Second, I really really really want hotkeys for all the abilities. "1, 2, 3, 4" will do it quite well. Having to scroll to change weapons gets tiresome and is very slow when you only have a split second to decide what ability to use.
Now for some feedback on the missiles, I love them! But... (there's always a but isn't there?) It might be interesting if it didn't fire all missiles at once, have you tried having it fire in a similar rate to the rapid fire powerup? I think this might be preferred, and will make you need to plan a little more in advance for when to use it as then it won't automatically clear the screen when used. Although I'm not sure about this, but you should test it IMO.
Hm, what else.. Oh yeah! You wanted some way to display the aquisition of upgrades between levels. I want to bring back my previous suggestion about having a large mothership come in and refuel the player ship inbetween levels (Thus refilling the health and ammo.) and it can at the same time extend an arm or something that adds the upgrade somehow. Although you need some text for this also. You could also make the upgrades choosable, so if you want to pick time warp before regeneration you can. This will however make it more difficult to balance the levels, so it might not be viable.
And I'm gonna nag some more that the active powerup needs to be shown on the ship somehow, maybe change the colour of the ship slightly depending on what one is active. Or maybe some kind of glow, I dunno, but some visual aid on the ship would be good.
The game is beginning to feel quite polished now however, I'm impressed and I really like it. =) Keep up the good work!
Iteration 11
I agree with Malice on just about everything.
especially that hotkeys IS needed. The missiles idea is a very good one! go for it!
Im working on a new design for the ship and Im thinking hard on some way to display the different abilities. some golw effect from the "ability mechanism"
is probably the way to go. But if you have hotkeys for them I think it will not be that important to visualise it cause then its just to press 1,2,3,4 just before you fire 
I have allways wanted a mothership to pause and catch your breath on between the levels. (this means alot of grafics for me to do
).
The idea of chosing your abilites pleases me mucho. Maybe the player still unlocks new abilities after each lvl but there is more than he can equip. I think 3 or maybe 4 abilites is a good number that you can equip. This could perhapes increase as you progress. All this is good to discribe (in text) for the player between the lvls.
I had one idea a while ago that you should not get weapon upgrade while playing, instead you collect them and after each lvl you equip them.
You could be collecting other stuff to like armor upgrades and energy upgrades that you can equip after each battle to increase them or just save them to collect more pieces, 2 equiped at once might be better than 1 and then 1.
Maybe you do not allways need to mount another cannon just make the ones you have stronger.
I like when the player have to chose
We could test not to let the enemies drop weapon upgrades and just let them come. Why would these energy flying things carry a gun?
The bosses should absolutly drop somthing.
Iteration 11
Hey nice to hear from you again Malice. Sorry for my somewhat late reply!
I actually did some experimentation with different missile configs, and the one implemented was the one I though worked best. What I wanted with the missiles was something like a "smart bomb". That is something you can use when in trouble and that it should very much wipe the whole sceen.
As I see it there are some problems with the missiles right now, the biggest one is that you often get as much energy back as you spend on the missiles, so they quickly become a dominating strategy.
As I see the game there will be no options for choises regarding weapons and abilities. You will be equipped as the Emperor sees fit!
[quote]We could test not to let the enemies drop weapon upgrades and just let them come. Why would these energy flying things carry a gun?[/quote]
Indeed, this has been a temporary solution, I'm waiting for some upgrade pod graphics
The idea is that the Empire has scattered pods with different upgrades (healt, energy, weapon) throughout the galaxy to support the pilots in their struggle. That is you shoot the pod and it releases the upgrade and you collect it.
/hObbE
Iteration 11
If the Emperor wishes so I will obey with loyalty
But I really like the more realistic part of getting your guns mounted at a mothership. I have never understod the thing when you just get the gun
but it's probalby better for the gameplay.
Drops will arrive shortly. As well for the new ship.
The two ships may need a dogfight first to see wich one is more fit to be the loyal hand of the Emporer.
Im thinking different colors for the different drops. blue for energy, red for health and black for weapon(or maybe green but its kinda boring color for a weapon). or should they be completly different in shapes aswell? or maybe you should not know what's inside before you shoot it? what do you say?
How many abilities are there going to be? I think 4 is max. otherwise it will to much to chose in a hasty game like this.
Iteration 11
Can't wait to see the new ship design, I don't really like the current onw that much. The previous one was pretty nice however, and the first one... well, I didn't like that one either and we'll leave it at that.
Well, to fix the balance issue with the missiles (I.E. The fact that you can use it always since you get the power back instantly anyhow.) I suggest making it a separate powerup that you can only have a certain amount of. In other words, it shouldn't be connected with power. That way it doesn't matter much that you get a lot of power after firing it off, and you are limited to only using it when you really need it.
This could be limited by only giving a few each level, either at the start or through the upgrade pods you have suggested.
And regarding the pods, you can have special enemies that try to steal them from the player. Either the enemy tries to grab an unprotected pod, or they already have one with them they are trying to transport away from the player. (You'll need a new enemy pixel-thingie for this, like a jar.. or something.)
The chose ability idea is mainly stolen from Starcraft 2, because I found their system quite brilliant, if somewhat complicated when it comes to balancing a single player campaign.
Different pod colours sounds like a good idea, although I don't think black is good, since space is black.. (How about white pods?)
That reminds me, you need nebulas and other stuff flying past in the background.
Hmm, thinking of pods and upgrades.. In the game Tiger Heli for the NES, they have an interesting solution to upgrades. Upgrades change what they upgrade every few seconds. So first they can be a bomb upgrade, 3 seconds it changes to a secondary helicopter upgrade, 3 seconds after that it's a shoot more bullets upgrade.. and so on, maybe that's something for T.W.T.P.B?
Iteration 11
Oh cool with new ship design! Looking forward to it.
I think the "pod" should be the same for every power, but when you shoot it, it should drop something "unique" (ie. health, energy, weapon and maybe score?).
/hObbE
Iteration 11
Regarding the missiles; how about making them blow up all the dropped energy powerups? That would balance things out, wouldn't it?
Iteration 11
Im thinking of withe with a little red and black as the main colours for the Empire. any thoughts?
Iteration 11
[quote="freelancer"]Regarding the missiles; how about making them blow up all the dropped energy powerups? That would balance things out, wouldn't it?[/quote]
That is actually not a bad idea... I will try it out!
white, red & black are probably a good chiose, high contrast is good, since the details are quite small.
/hObbE
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