2d shootem opinions

BlitzPlus Forums/BlitzPlus Programming/2d shootem opinions

Ross C(Posted 2003) [#1]
sorry to post this in 2 different sections but would anyone be willing to download this and tell me what they think of it. i want to see if anyone thinks this is good or bad. thanks

Click here to download

Thanks to darklordz for the mini site and his help


Foppy(Posted 2003) [#2]
Hi,

Here are some tips/comments:

- the enemy ship explosion creates a short pause the first time it is used; maybe something should be loaded into memory before the game starts

- I think the background scrolls too fast, it hurts my eyes a little bit (OK, this could be because I do nothing but gazing at computer screens all day...), since you are staring at it the whole time for evading the enemy bullets; maybe have it scroll slowly and only increase the speed inbetween levels, like you are already doing now

- the enemy bullets on the other hand I think could move faster; now you really have to wait for them to fly by, and that's a bit tiring (also on the eyes); making them move faster will increase the action and will not make the game much more difficult; make the player bullets (and ship) move faster too to compensate

- there need to be less enemy bullets; sometimes you really have to wait for a group of bullets to pass before you can move to the left or right (this is related to the above point); so I would have less bullets, that move quicker; also you could make the enemies fire more bullets when they are above the player (maybe that makes it too difficult, it's a matter of finding the right balance); but it is good if the player can somehow see or think that the enemy ships are actually responding to the player's position and movement, right now they look a bit passive

Edit: I noticed the player gets quite a lot of ships and shields so that makes up for it a bit! :)

- I like the enemy health bars

- the enemy ships should rock and shake when they are hit by a bullet; this will perhaps look even better if their health bar does *not* rock, it makes the movement of the ship even clearer; or maybe the healthbar should move too and light up like an alarm when the enemy is almost gone

- when the enemy ships get hit and shake about there should also be some sound, like a very small explosion, or a buzzing electricity sound

- add the option for the player of moving up and down (not the entire screen maybe but enough to give bit more freedom than just the 1 dimensional left and right movements)

- the explosions are nice

- the bonus messages look funny too

- the enemy could move in less predictable ways, so instead of always moving from left to right they could move a little bit into the other direction, and then back again

So, a lot of "you should" in the above message, but of course I only mean "I would if I were you", just advice. The basis is good but there are a lot of games like this, adding something original is also important. On the other hand if it plays good, it plays good. ;) To be more clear, as you are asking "is this good or bad", I think it's good, but it could need some changes in speed/movement/difficulty.

Edit: my "review" wasn't completely fair as I only played the first 2 levels earlier. In later levels there is more variation in the enemies, reminds me a bit of classic games like Phoenix where you also have to face wave after wave of enemies every time with a different pattern or type of enemy. Still, the point I made about too many bullets I still stand by! :) Aaaaaah...


Zace(Posted 2003) [#3]
Got to level 10

2520 score

Started with Zero lives and ended with zero lives.

Also once i kileld teh motehr ship on level 10 i got a crash and out of data message.

Good fun game.

What i'd like to see......

The ability to move up and down as well.
Slow the background down - I think I saw paralax scrolling - cant be sure, it was too fast, however I like the idea. Maybe make the stars inthe back ground bigger.
Also the aliens needa slighlt different firing patter maybe - or is that the idea that they are predicatable?

Good work.

CJS


popey(Posted 2003) [#4]
What installer did you use to create that install package? It's quite neat and tidy.


_PJ_(Posted 2003) [#5]
---


I did the following and hope u don't mind :
- I packed ur main exe with upx shell (makes it smaller)
- I created a easy use installer (so ppl can install and uninstall ur prject)
- I resized ur scr shots to 640x480
- I created a lil website Click Here

visit the site to download.....

Kind Regards,
darklordz

---


Quoted from Darklordz on other thread


Ross C(Posted 2003) [#6]
yeah sorry bout the crash, i forgot to fix that. as for the aliens having different firing patterns. i was gonna introduce them over time. so far i have:

standard firing
pulse firing
homing firing
fire on last location of player
fire only if above the player
(any other firing patterns that i would need?)

about the stars paralaxing. i've kinda had problem with them, because of the nature of the game, it's hard to make them pleasing to the eye and still look noticable. i think i've got it right now :S

i think i'll add that ability to move up and down ( to a certain degree)

@foppy
the only person tetsing my game was my wee sister so that's why i posted it here to get a bit more feedback, and thanks for it.
I reduced the amount of bullets on screen and made them a touch faster, i see your point about waiting for bullets to go by :D

LONG post, but thanks for the suggestions, taken with serious consideration. and thanks Malice for pointing to that thread :D.