Laser Maze:Note: I haven't tried the updated version with the improved small enemies.
Curious - what platform did you use? Just SDL?
1. Obstructions are a fantastic idea; I'm a little gutted that I failed to come up with that idea first
2. I've already said this, but the little barrel things don't do much except to decoy the enemies. But we've addressed that already.
3. I'm partial to the big laser ships, mainly because I like "telegraphed" attacks. They work really well with obstructions.
4. Collision hull seems enormous for some reason. I guess it works, kind of, especially with the health mechanic.
5. Game experience is initially excellent.
6. Game is a bit easy once you get the hang of it; I think it wore out its welcome at or about the time I had accumulated 8 lives. Will try the updated version soon.
7. The visuals are really nice. I especially like the explosions and respawn effect. Very polished.
8. Why, on the controller, do I have to hold down the trigger to shoot? My index finger is sore now (although it makes for good isometric finger exercise).
9. I am curious about how you did AI. The ships don't seem to move in normal pathfinding patterns, and occasionally they get stuck, but they also seem to be reasonably clever about getting to the player.
Demi'bot:1. Not a terrible game, despite author's protestations to the contrary.
2. My main criticism is that it doesn't do enough to distinguish itself from Asteroids...
3. The idea of a timed score attack is a good one, and helps to mitigate the problem of dying a lot and getting fed up (see: my game)
4. However, to make the timed score attack work, you need more risk/reward mechanics. I've posted a couple of suggestions on your thread. (Edit: I read the response. You probably should let the player know about that multiplier...)
5. Player ship should flash when being hit, for reasons already stated.
6. Not much else I can say that hasn't already been said. It's simple - perhaps a bit too simple - but the core ideas, I think, are reasonably sound.
And now on to responses...
kdmiller: I originally planned to make the "main menu" of the game an actual separate level, where you have some dummy targets to slash, and some targets marked "START GAME" and "QUIT" (which act accordingly when you slash them). That would have helped people to figure out what was going on, as would having appropriate effects when enemies take damage. Actually, you can hold your saber on the enemy to "burn" them, but the burn damage is minimal and takes a few seconds to kill a normal enemy (forget about killing the boss that way).
The beam cannons were implemented because I was kind of lazy and didn't want to plan movement patterns
I found out that adjusting the timing and synchronization of the cannons resulted in fairly interesting gameplay, and just ran with that. As for telegraphing, well, having played lots of Touhou, I've pretty much been psyched into the belief that telegraphing instant-hit lasers is just good manners
My main criticism of my own game is that it's pretty heavy on memorization - although, thankfully, execution is challenging enough that the game isn't *quite* playable with your eyes shut.
By the way, did you reach the boss?
SHMUP-DEV » RAPID PROTOTYPE SESSIONS » Older Sessions » Session 2
Session 2 Finished - vote for your favourite
Poll: Whose idea did you like the most
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