G
Gerald Tyler
Guest
Hey there! Thanks for putting out a demo =)
Trying to start the game was a bit of a pain, forces you through the screen to check for an update, then forces you to the shop before you can actually play. Why not have the "Play" button take me to the shop? Maybe consolidate that stuff into one screen and clean up the menu?
Some weapons are objectively FAR superior to the others
$100 Pistol : 20 rounds, 15 rounds required to kill. $75 per kill. 1 kill possible
$150 Pistol: 20 rounds, 13 rounds required to kill. $97.50 per kill. 1 kill possible
$300 Rifle: 100 rounds, 10 rounds required to kill. $30 per kill. 10 kills possible
$500 Rifle: 100 rounds, 5 rounds required to kill. $25 per kill. 20 kills possible <---Clearly the best weapon
$1300 Rifle: 50 rounds, 4 rounds required to kill. $104 per kill, 12 kills possible, most ammo packs don't work with this weapon
Also I noticed that killing the first zombie with the first pistol gives me 114 points, while killing it with the $500 rifle gives me 140 points. Consider inverting that to give the player a reason to use weaker weapons for say a score run.
No weapon variety, all weapons functionally the same with only difference is stats. You may consider a shotgun with spread so it's better at close range. You may also look at a long rifle which fires slower but pierces enemies, or a flame thrower with very high DPS but creates a flame hazard the player must avoid, or an RPG which deals massive splash damage but has the ability to flat out kill the player. Keep the lower DPS of the pistol but give it infinite ammo. Add in grenades that you can bounce around corners. And of course give the player the option to swap between weapons so they can make the conscious decision to choose the best tool for the job.
Managed to walk outside of the first "Room" you find the first NPC, there's no barriers
You can immediately go into the car and skip talking to the NPC, not sure if that's something you had wanted? I do think it's better that way though.
The NPC dialogue is never changing. A bit odd to see the same conversation over and over. Props on not artificially delaying text boxes though, can easily spam Space to blow through it. I do feel that you're doing the exposition in the right way. It's there if the player wants it, but if they just want to play they can get through it very quickly.
Make pausing the Escape key, also game should auto pause when tabbed out and it's not the active tab/window
Picking up the key makes a "cash" sound effect?
The way the game tries to get you to save/load is very weird. Should keep track of progress on it's own.
If I purchase a 2nd weapon, it should be added to my weapon pool, rather than becoming the only weapon I own. Or at the very least, the original weapon I purchased should have it's priced changed to "Owned" so that I can select it again later.
Shouldn't be able to "Waste" health/ammo packs by picking them up while full. At the very least, picking up a health pack while on full health should give you a good score bonus.
Confusing level design + darkness + having two locate two objectives (key + exit) + a VERY short timer = lots of failures not due to any lack of "Skill" on the player's part. Consider a mini map in the top corner which starts to kill up as the player progresses the level to help them keep track.
Game actually let me start the level without a weapon. I saw that I had $500 cash, so I assumed I still had the rifle I had previously purchased. The level loaded and the sprite indicated that I did have the rifle, except I didn't have anything. The screen even shook each time I left clicked, haha. Why didn't I simply keep the rifle I had already purchased?
Dialog boxes were small and very hard to read. Could just be my monitor / resolution? Also odd that they were forced to the bottom left corner instead of say center bottom.
Exits very poorly marked. I actually lost the 4th stage the first time because I mistakenly thought something else was the exit.
Include some feedback mechanisms. The zombies should make a pain sound every time they're shot, the player should make a pain sound when he's being attacked, and consider some flashing spites during this. The giant zombie should be immune to the knockback. I was able to stand in one spot and just spam the trigger until it died as it was "Stun locked" in place.
Finally realized that symbol above the zombie was an "Alert" icon. Switch it to yellow, and keep it orientated properly independent of the zombie
Give the zombies a "Chase" noise. Look at Minecraft zombies. They make noises while standing there, while chasing, being hit, and upon death. So as ironic as it is to say...make your zombies feel "Alive"
Differentiate the enemies. Size / color pallet / stats aren't enough. Yes you're limiting yourself by going with zombies, but look at Left 4 Dead for inspiration.
Sometimes zombies stand still, sometimes they hid behind the corner, and other times they just flat out run away.
Perhaps some "Double kill / triple kill" animations, sound effects, announcer etc when the player kills multiple enemies in a row.
I think even if you only removed the timer, the game would automatically become twice as fun.
Good game play is based on interesting decisions. Currently the only decision in your game is which weapon to choose, then you deal with every enemy in the exact same way by shooting it 5/10/20+ times. So there's no learning curve in the game. You pick the best stat based gun, and run the level on auto pilot, really no other decisions can be made by the player.
Don't give up though, there is potential with your game! As somebody earlier said, check out Extra Credits on YouTube. They're full of design philosophy and I think your game will be 10x better after checking out their videos. You're clearly somebody willing to put in the effort, so keep at it!
Trying to start the game was a bit of a pain, forces you through the screen to check for an update, then forces you to the shop before you can actually play. Why not have the "Play" button take me to the shop? Maybe consolidate that stuff into one screen and clean up the menu?
Some weapons are objectively FAR superior to the others
$100 Pistol : 20 rounds, 15 rounds required to kill. $75 per kill. 1 kill possible
$150 Pistol: 20 rounds, 13 rounds required to kill. $97.50 per kill. 1 kill possible
$300 Rifle: 100 rounds, 10 rounds required to kill. $30 per kill. 10 kills possible
$500 Rifle: 100 rounds, 5 rounds required to kill. $25 per kill. 20 kills possible <---Clearly the best weapon
$1300 Rifle: 50 rounds, 4 rounds required to kill. $104 per kill, 12 kills possible, most ammo packs don't work with this weapon
Also I noticed that killing the first zombie with the first pistol gives me 114 points, while killing it with the $500 rifle gives me 140 points. Consider inverting that to give the player a reason to use weaker weapons for say a score run.
No weapon variety, all weapons functionally the same with only difference is stats. You may consider a shotgun with spread so it's better at close range. You may also look at a long rifle which fires slower but pierces enemies, or a flame thrower with very high DPS but creates a flame hazard the player must avoid, or an RPG which deals massive splash damage but has the ability to flat out kill the player. Keep the lower DPS of the pistol but give it infinite ammo. Add in grenades that you can bounce around corners. And of course give the player the option to swap between weapons so they can make the conscious decision to choose the best tool for the job.
Managed to walk outside of the first "Room" you find the first NPC, there's no barriers
You can immediately go into the car and skip talking to the NPC, not sure if that's something you had wanted? I do think it's better that way though.
The NPC dialogue is never changing. A bit odd to see the same conversation over and over. Props on not artificially delaying text boxes though, can easily spam Space to blow through it. I do feel that you're doing the exposition in the right way. It's there if the player wants it, but if they just want to play they can get through it very quickly.
Make pausing the Escape key, also game should auto pause when tabbed out and it's not the active tab/window
Picking up the key makes a "cash" sound effect?
The way the game tries to get you to save/load is very weird. Should keep track of progress on it's own.
If I purchase a 2nd weapon, it should be added to my weapon pool, rather than becoming the only weapon I own. Or at the very least, the original weapon I purchased should have it's priced changed to "Owned" so that I can select it again later.
Shouldn't be able to "Waste" health/ammo packs by picking them up while full. At the very least, picking up a health pack while on full health should give you a good score bonus.
Confusing level design + darkness + having two locate two objectives (key + exit) + a VERY short timer = lots of failures not due to any lack of "Skill" on the player's part. Consider a mini map in the top corner which starts to kill up as the player progresses the level to help them keep track.
Game actually let me start the level without a weapon. I saw that I had $500 cash, so I assumed I still had the rifle I had previously purchased. The level loaded and the sprite indicated that I did have the rifle, except I didn't have anything. The screen even shook each time I left clicked, haha. Why didn't I simply keep the rifle I had already purchased?
Dialog boxes were small and very hard to read. Could just be my monitor / resolution? Also odd that they were forced to the bottom left corner instead of say center bottom.
Exits very poorly marked. I actually lost the 4th stage the first time because I mistakenly thought something else was the exit.
Include some feedback mechanisms. The zombies should make a pain sound every time they're shot, the player should make a pain sound when he's being attacked, and consider some flashing spites during this. The giant zombie should be immune to the knockback. I was able to stand in one spot and just spam the trigger until it died as it was "Stun locked" in place.
Finally realized that symbol above the zombie was an "Alert" icon. Switch it to yellow, and keep it orientated properly independent of the zombie
Give the zombies a "Chase" noise. Look at Minecraft zombies. They make noises while standing there, while chasing, being hit, and upon death. So as ironic as it is to say...make your zombies feel "Alive"
Differentiate the enemies. Size / color pallet / stats aren't enough. Yes you're limiting yourself by going with zombies, but look at Left 4 Dead for inspiration.
Sometimes zombies stand still, sometimes they hid behind the corner, and other times they just flat out run away.
Perhaps some "Double kill / triple kill" animations, sound effects, announcer etc when the player kills multiple enemies in a row.
I think even if you only removed the timer, the game would automatically become twice as fun.
Good game play is based on interesting decisions. Currently the only decision in your game is which weapon to choose, then you deal with every enemy in the exact same way by shooting it 5/10/20+ times. So there's no learning curve in the game. You pick the best stat based gun, and run the level on auto pilot, really no other decisions can be made by the player.
Don't give up though, there is potential with your game! As somebody earlier said, check out Extra Credits on YouTube. They're full of design philosophy and I think your game will be 10x better after checking out their videos. You're clearly somebody willing to put in the effort, so keep at it!