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☖ Forums → Showcase → Help with my game
Help with my game
2007-08-26, 1:10 PM #1
I've been working on this game for the past few weeks. I didn't go into it with many big plans, just a chance to learn more about flash.

What I need from all of you is:
- Input about gameplay (what's good, what's bad)
- What framerates it's running at
- Ideas for things to add

Right now I just have a basic version up. There's no way for the game to end, and there are only 4 or 5 waves of enemies that repeat over and over, but it should be enough for me to be able to start getting feedback.

Once I finalize the gameplay I'll go through and optimize the code a bit more, so things should speed up a bit once I do that.

The link:
https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/vandeweghe/web/flash
2007-08-26, 3:25 PM #2
what's good:

i don't die when the enemy touches me
the sliding system and tracking

the bad:

sometimes i shoot an enemy about 6 or 7 times for it to blow up.. it just stays there...

framerates are around 29-40 for me.
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2007-08-26, 5:20 PM #3
graphics look real fresh, thats good. id add some glowy transparent things to laser shots though to make them stand out, glow up the crosshair too.

sound effects would make wonders too :)


no complaints other than those couple aesthetics. movement seems liquid.
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2007-08-26, 6:25 PM #4
For gameplay, can you increase the rate of fire from your guns? With all the action from the incoming enemies, it's quite easy to lose track of the location of your shots (especially since there is much "red" in the background.)
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2007-08-26, 6:45 PM #5
yeah, I agree there..

Faster rate of fire.. More.. *Explosion* like explosions.. when the ships blow up.

No idea about framerate, but it seemed smooth enough.

Also, the "bullets" don't seem to actually come out of the barrel of the gun, but off to the side.
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

Lassev: I guess there was something captivating in savagery, because I liked it.
2007-08-26, 7:22 PM #6
Text does not show up very well (not very readable) in the latest version of Opera

Shoot too slow/enemies move too fast

No point in moving side to side

Not handicapped accessable (hard to use a and d key when your hand is in a cast. :p)


Not sure if this is the kind of thing you're lookinig for, but there ya go.
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2007-08-26, 7:42 PM #7
I used it just fine...

You mean "gimp accessible"
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2007-08-26, 9:24 PM #8
  • Sometimes shots can be seen "spawning" behind the turret. Easiest to see when pointing left or right.
  • Everyone else is right, it needs to fire faster.
  • Holding down the button should also produce rapid fire. Whether it fires as fast as possible or slower than is possible if you quick really fast is up to you.
  • More enemy types.
  • Make rules for death (or hurting, if you add a health bar, as well as rules about extra lives and gaining health/lives). Should you die if a robot reaches the bottom (probably not), or should they be able to pass you as long as they don't hit you (maybe!)?
  • Music and sounds!
  • Framerate is OK (15-30), lowering quality kept everything at the same speed so it's running full speed on High. Remember users can always decrease quality if the framerate is low.
  • Maybe have an alternate fire (toggle between firing modes with S maybe?) where you fire both barrels at once with longer "reload" time, a-la X-Wing/TIE Fighter series of games.
  • Sometimes I see a spinning enemy in the upper left. Something is moving enemies to null (0, 0) when they go off the bottom of the screen.
  • About enemies hurting you? If you do that, make them bounce off of you and hurt them a tad, as if they'd been stunned. If they kill you they should fly right through.
  • Some enemy types must fire back! Different weapons too, like limited homing things...
  • Give the player weapon upgrades... faster rate of fire (though the default needs to still be faster), different weapons... maybe they fly down like robots, maybe they randomly spawn from robots or from specific robots when you kill them, maybe you're awarded them for passing point values without dying...
  • Other powerups. Invisibility, dual-ity, Invincibility (limited time of course), Free Roam, use your imagination.
  • BOSS BATTLES every nth wave. Obviously this would require extra work for the more complex enemy type.
  • Animation in the background.
  • A PLOT would be nice and add atmosphere. I'd say you're a turret gunner on a space station which is under attack by enemies. Boss battles and powerups might not fit in that scenario though...
  • Enemies and shots fly over the HUD.
  • I-beam cursor appears when you mouse over the HUD.
  • Damage needs to be less random... or whatever you're doing... some enemies take one hit, others take 5 or 6. There should be less variance, even if you're doing hitzones or something.
  • Flashing enemies are so '80s and '90s! Try using a small explosion or poof of smoke and a "damaged" ship sprite instead? Get rid of the green circle too, that doesn't seem to make sense either...

2007-08-27, 7:46 AM #9
Alright...first of all, thank you SO much to everyone who responded so far. Everything has been incredibly helpful.

I uploaded a slightly newer version of the game. Lasers have a bit of glow, faster rate of fire, and a few more waves of enemies.
https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/vandeweghe/web/flash

A few responses and more questions:
- I'm planning on making a few more types of enemies, possibly foot soldiers that will run on-screen (or be dropped off by a troop carrier?). They'll run to a certain point, then set up a gun and start shooting. Good idea? Bad?
- For those of you trying out the new version, do any ships get past you? If so, how many? I'm trying to figure out a good system of player damage, but I don't feel like I really know how often ships get past. I'll probably have to make them shoot at the player.
- Some of you commented on the fact that some ships blow up easily, while others take a few shots. I made it so that a ship-to-ship collision would make both ships automatically explode, but a ship could take a few hits from just a laser before going down. My hope was that it would force the player to shoot strategically (hence the slower rate of fire before) instead of just pounding away at them. Ideas on this?

Keep the feedback coming, I really appreciate it. I'll try to do some more substantial work on it later today.
2007-08-27, 7:58 AM #10
I noticed the ship collision thing after a bit of gameplay and liked it. The explosions are still not explody enough and I'd really like to have some sort of visual feedback when I score a hit. Maybe some sparks flying off the ship?

I don't necessarily agree with MZZT about a plot. The most you need is to just hint at a plot (with some sort of message at the beginning, maybe) and let the player make up the rest in his head. The best example of this is my favorite flash game, Jetspeed
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2007-08-27, 8:24 AM #11
About a fifth of the ships get through here...
FPS are at 30, collision-damage for enemies is cool (maybe with walls, too?), but yeah, a constant stream of projectiles would be nice when someone held down fire...
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