Forums → Programming Forum → Weird Space 2 - V2.614

I promise you that it will be the first thing I do when I get up tomorrow @weirdlike!! Exciting!! A game by our newest Mod Squad member!! Yay!!

Looks great, but the preloader was taking a long time to complete...
Edit: The refresh took a second btw, so that's good! =D

Comments on the game:

Introduction/Tutorial:

# 1a) You might want to add a "Click to continue" text to the introduction part in my opinion. This is something that may be obvious, but can annoy gamers from the get-go if such a thing is not clear. (points of irritation stack from my experience)

# 1b) Is it possible to fit all the training into a tutorial part that includes everything that should be learned about the controls, compass and abilities? I'm not yet clear on the mini games part... if this includes a mini game inside the actual game, maybe add a small explanation about the passive/aggressive controls at the start of the first mini game played?
(writing this as I go btw...)

Uhmmm.... there's mentioning of Abilities and the fact that there are 4 in total, but... what are they?! Shouldn't there be an explanation about what they are and where/when you can achieve those in the game? This is very mysterious, maybe too mysterious?
EDIT: Just found out they are part of the upgrades. Maybe adding that they can be unlocked there is advisable?

#1c) Maybe adding the part where enemy ships leave money behind you can then pick up to the tutorial would be a good thing, just so gamers know what to do to get money for upgrades. (continued from # 2d) ...) Even better yet, to stay in the game's setting, say it is "Scrap Metal" which is worth money?

Concluding for the Tutorial... have a small introduction that includes these consequtive explanations:

- Introduction with storyline, followed with directions towards Earth

- When clicking Earth and then Training, include a Tutorial that explains:

• Ship Controls = WASD / Arrows
• Enemy ship explanation
• Shooting = Mouse Click
• Scrap Metal: pickup = Money

• Upgrading Ship = Progression in-game
• Abilities = ??? (Need to find out what they are first...)

• Compass
• End goal of a level = Wormhole = Return home to Earth

...

The Game:

# 2a) It's pretty clear now that you need to upgrade speed first... LOL But seriously, you could add a part in the introduction where you explain that you need to return to Earth in order to upgrade your ship, maybe even show Earth and then already pre-open the menu to choose your actions? This will result in less clicking in order to get back to playing again.

# 2b) I'm a little confused about the money earning... do you get money for every ship you destroy, for every mission you complete, or simply for following the storyline in the game? I destroyed quite a few ships before being defeated the first run with auto-fire, but got less money than when I made the second run with 2 speed upgrades... (Oo)

# 2c) I experienced quite a bit of lagging when playing the second time... once I located the wormhole, I simply could not enter it because the controls kept on going one way, but I already pressed another direction. I used WASD to move, going to test if this is the same for the Arrow keys.
EDIT: Arrow keys gave the same result in lagging...

# 2d) Allright... I just found out that the ships you destroy leave money behind that you can pick up! Heh... overlooked those! Continuing this in the tutorial part of the comments. (Seen above)

EDIT: Could you perhaps make the Scrap Metal/Money light up a little more? They tend to fade into the background once you are playing and moving around with your ship...

# 2e) It says "Defeat the Captain" underneath a level (Andromeda f.e.), but... I played the level 4 times now and still haven't seen the captain? Is it the darker version of the enemy ships? Maybe adding this to the tutorial is advisable as well... (Seen above)

Was it intentional that the enemy ships are the same color as yours? It would be better for visibility in-game if your ship would be a different color than theirs... if it was intentional, forget I mentioned it!

# 2f) The upgrade for the Radar was not entirely clear for me... maybe explaining that it is an upgrade of the Radar itself that enables you to have the next indicator added to the Radar would be better? Hmmm...

So far, this is is a great Spacial Bullet Hell Shooter! Awesome! And excellent music! Great choice!!

I hope you don't mind that I only pointed out the things I found that needed some tweaking... if you do, grab that space ship and try to shoot me down!!

Additional info...

I played the game for a while, but there seems to be 'something off' about the playability for some items @weirdlike... once I completed the Andromeda Challenge, I went back to the Upgrade menu to see what Ability I unlocked, but... it said I needed to complete the Pegasus Challenge next? That would mean no reward for a challenge, which seems odd...

Another point that became clear is that when you defeat the first boss (The Captain in Andromeda), you continue for the General, but there are no more upgrades, which leaves you unbalanced in fighting power against an increasing boss strenght.

I have to add that I bought all the upgrades already, before even finding the Captain and defeating him. Maybe changing the configuration or color of the Bosses would make it more clear which enemy ship is which, 'normal' or Boss ship.

I'm looping in @Ferret and @Tasselfoot on this as well... maybe they can add some pointers and feedback for you too!

Is the long loading time down to the game or the server it's coming from? (I haven't actually played it yet. It's only 27% loaded.)

Well... it loaded slow for the first time around, but the second time it was within a second @09philj. Could you try as well? See if this is the same for you?

It is my home server that is hosting the game. My apologies if loading times are slow this is the largest game I have made. If it would be easier I can give a download link.

Then I refreshed and it loaded in no time. Weird...

Anyway, from what saw when I played the game, it's very good. The only thing I would say is that it would be more fun if there was more parallax scrolling to make it at least feel like you're moving fast.

@MrDayCee - this is exactly what I am looking for as I am the coder I don't know what the player is thinking due to me already knowing what to do

training
-------------------------------------------------------------
# 1a) You mean the pixels that form the Weird Space 2 in the very beginning? Or the text in the tutorial that explains things. As for the text in the tutorial there is already a "skip" unless if the game is waiting for input like "WASD or ARROWS"

# 1b) I can make it so when you start the game the very first time it goes through the controls and whatnot. The mini portion refers to the "Challenge" when you find the floating space cafe you just touch the door and it will show a loader bar at the bottom, which will get you into the game.

ABILITES: let me see if I can explain this properly. There are 8 wormholes total. There are 4 abilities. Any ability can be unlocked for purchase in the shop if you either complete the challenge or kill the boss in the corresponding galaxies. For example to get the first ability you need to kill boss's 1 and 2 or complete challenge's 1 and 2 or you can just kill boss 1 and complete challenge 2. I originally had just complete the challenge but some of the challenges were too difficult for other testers so I made a different way to acquire the ability.

Ship Controls = WASD / Arrows
Enemy ship explanation
Shooting = Mouse Click
Scrap Metal: pickup = Money
__(Maybe also add their worth; Copper = 1, Silver = 5 and Gold = 10)

Upgrading Ship = Progression in-game
Abilities = ??? (Need to find out what they are first...)
__(Also, add that they can be unlocked with Ship Upgrades?)

Compass
End goal of a level = Wormhole = Return home to Earth

some of these are already in the training portion. I can make it have more clarity with some of these comments here.

game
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 2a) I have it setup where if you click on the earth it locks the movement to the other galaxies as the window will stay open even under a galaxy. So you need to click to open and click to close to be able to move freely around.

# 2b) The money is very random you kill a ship and it randomly makes a calculation then shoots the money in random directions. Higher level enemies have a higher chance of dropping more money, they also have a chance of dropping nothing at all.

# 2c) I have received comments about the trails could you try turning it off in the options menu and let me know if you still get the lag? I think that portion of the code needs to be rewritten

# 2d) Dooley noted - I can add a light glow around the coins to illuminate more with the dark background

# 2e) The captain is floating around the level somewhere, in order to find him you will need to purchase the captain compass in the shop. It is the yellow marker. Also please note that if you purchase the Boss compass you will need to kill the captain in order for the boss to spawn. It is also yellow.

CONT' I will take suggestion's on either "light enemy" or "player" ship color

# 2f) About the radar and compass. I imagined this portion in my mind as I was coding. If a person does not know how to navigate(radar) then they would not be able to understand how to use the compass. I hope this is clear enough as to why you need to purchase the radar before the compass is unlocked.

Additional info...
1. Note ABILITES portion above. Still taking any suggestion's on that
2. It is a bit unbalanced if you don't have any abilities to use against the boss. There are 3 ways of unlocking each ability read ABILITES portion above
3. I have made it so the captain is 1/2 step larger than the standard and the boss is twice the size. I have thought about a floating crown above the boss/captain that is semi-transparent but haven't really ironed it out, Maybe silver/gold.

@09philj

I am glad that it is loading properly now for you.

The game does appear to be slow in the beginning, after you purchase the speed upgrade it is noticeably faster. I have thought about a higher initial speed but thought it would take away from the user select portion of it. Do you want to be stronger in the beginning or faster? The choice is yours to make.

For some reason I checked your html while I was waiting for the pre-loader, and I noticed you had 2 opening head and body tags, and the break tag is <br />, not </br> also, the img tag doesn't need a closing <img>. Might want to check that out.

Concerning the game, pretty good, but some, oddities. Sorta feels like the enemies spam overly fast at the beginning of Andromeda galaxy, and the General person's appearance in the tutorial was inconsistent, meaning he was there for the basics, but nothing else. It might be nice to enter the space cafe and upgrade health or something. Also, good music.

And for your question, maybe two classes of ships that the player can choose from, one stronger, one faster?
Can't wait to see what you're going to do next with it.

The new version is out, check the OP.

let me just chime in a few others

@mightybob
@ivanxxxxxxx
@MrDayCee

I am curious about the lag reduction. Feedback is appreciated if any of you could, thanks

Also if no one noticed the general's lip movements, he is actually saying "Weirdlike is awesome"

Kill all the bosses to see the final cut scene.

I'll check this out soon, looks interesting

Uhm... @weirdlike? I tried to load your game last week, but had to give up after 15 minutes of loading and getting to 48%. I tried again this morning and got to 55% in 10 minutes, which is a little better, but still terribly slow...

It didn't take that much to load for me, about 10 minutes if that helps a bit. I don't have a lot of suggestions, as I only played it a bit. But I love space shooters

By the way, I purchased the autofire. It doesn't seem to work or am I missing something?

Edit: Yes, I was missing something. Nevermind about the autofire. I figured it out :P