been working on a new game lately and I was interested in getting some feedback before going too far with it. if you want to test it make a post here and I'll add your username to the list. here's the link to play it once you're added:

http://www.newgrounds.com/account/flasha pi2/12283/preview

ONLY THE FIRST TWO PLANETS WORK, ANYTHING AFTER WILL JUST REPEAT THE SAME LEVEL.
I'll probably add in small groups, depending on interest level. Testers will have their ng usernames added to the credits when the game is complete

ABOUT THE GAME:
this is a shmup with rpg elements. instead of collecting powerups in the level you collect money to spend at the parts shop- as you progress you'll unlock expansion slots where you can mix and match weapons and ship mods for a custom attack setup (you can individually rotate the weapons as well)

as you play you'll also gain xp and level up your ship with small stat upgrades

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:
Are the controls and interface intuitive?
is the difficulty too easy or too hard?
do the rpg mechanics enhance the game?
did you find any bugs?
did the game run well?
is it... fun?

thanks!

Looks fun. Count me in.

Sorry I dont understand "beta"

At 10/10/10 11:38 PM, AtomicD00M wrote: Sorry I dont understand "beta"

games are referred to as alphas and betas in their testing stages- beta usually signifying something playable, alpha meaning more of just ideas and concepts or a rough engine.

Sounds awesome. I'm pretty mediocre at shmups, but I'd love to give it a try.

On a scale of one to ten, how many bullets are going to be flying around at the same time?

I'll try it out, I can haz permissions to view this page?

Lets do this

I'd definitely love to help test your game, especially since I'm trying to build my own shmup as well.

Is there going to be bullet hell in this?

No... simply no.

maybe

sorry for the delay guys, my internet took a major shit. everyone is added now though. I'll address individual comments in a second

as for bullet hell, the idea is that the game starts out fairly calm but by the end the screen will be filled with projectiles (assuming flash will allow it)

Here's my incredibly quick feedback. Sorry I didn't play longer, but I have to be somewhere in the next 10 minutes.

Are the controls and interface intuitive?

It felt just about right. The only problem was that the control options were different in range. The first option was comfortable, but the second was a bit too close. Then again, my keyboard is pretty big.

is the difficulty too easy or too hard?

It was pretty easy. The only enemy I had difficulty with was the one that moved left to right, but after finding a pattern it was a piece of cake.

do the rpg mechanics enhance the game?

It's new to this genre. which felt fresh and welcoming. Playing it with an RPG feature would be great.

did you find any bugs?

Nope.

did the game run well?

Very well. Nothing froze or lagged. It was very, very smooth.

is it... fun?

Extremely. I wish I could keep playing.

Hope this turns into a full game!

Top down shooter you say?

Count me in.

outlet wrote
I liked how it got harder and harder, but it was just a little too hard, a little too fast. Maybe if you toned down the difficulty and made it harder a bit more gradually.

EJR wrote
About the difficulty, I think it was too easy. I feel like the game would be more fun if the difficulty was brought up a little

as you guys can see already, trying to adjust the difficulty is tough. the first two comments have completely opposite viewpoints, heh.

and if the ship could rotate a little as you move to the left or right so that you can shoot better

personally this kind of annoys me in other games, that's why I wanted the player to be able to rotate their weapons to a certain direction and keep them there.

I don't get the question.

as in, did the game slow down at all for you (regular framerate is 55fps)

I mean, it's not too new. I wouldn't give it a 10 for that matter, but it was really interesting. Maybe some more interactions with the outside world

in a sense that's what I'm afraid of, I really want people to find interest in the parts customization. maybe I just need to add more :)

Yay. you don't post enough AN.

added xports
ship art in this game is from pox btw

At 10/11/10 12:07 AM, InDuStRiEl wrote: Extremely. I wish I could keep playing.
Hope this turns into a full game!

thanks, I'll see what I can do :)

I love Shmup games! Can I have access to this sexy beast?

Okay, after playing through levels 1-2 and that repeating one, as well as trying out all of the weapons and stuff, I figure I should take care of this while it's fresh in my mind.

:Are the controls and interface intuitive?

The controls were smooth, and I think they're great. The menu interface was good for a keyboard only game, though mouse support could be nice.

Quick question: Why was "L" the fire button on the WASD configuration?

:is the difficulty too easy or too hard?

Considering these are the first few levels, I'd have to say that the game starts really easy on the first stage. On the second stage I got hit once or twice. On the repeating stage I had to start trying and got hit somewhere around four times. So far I think that for the beginning the difficulty is just right.

:do the rpg mechanics enhance the game?

The light RPG mechanics are pretty interesting, and I think they add a bit of depth and customization to the game.

Also, I noticed a large increase in DPS when you change weapons.
the needle gun pretty much tore through everything much faster than either of the other choices. Was that intentional?

With a base attack of 3.75 I got these stats.

Standard Bullet rifle : 28.5 DPS Price: 20
Needle Cannon: 37.5 DPS Price: 30
Durable Cannonball launcher: 32.5 DPS Price: 25

Seems like there's a pretty huge difference between the choices in comparison to their extremely similar costs.

The rotating of your weapon seemed kind of useless at first, but then I remembered the screenshot in the OP and I thought that was a clever idea. I'm kind of sick of only being able to shoot straight.

:did you find any bugs?

A couple of times I'd hear an electronic-ish sound when browsing through the Parts shop.
Also the game would say I'd have one of a certain part in the Parts shop, but when I'd check the garage it wouldn't be there. To be specific, I can only be sure this happened with the enhanced engine. (It may have happened with another part but I'm unsure of that much.)

I didn't hear any sound other than that occasional beep, so is that the only effect in the game right now?

:did the game run well?

Yeah, it ran smoothly without any major jumps or screwing up, the save file loaded fine as well.

:is it... fun?

Yeah! Once this gets finished I can see this being quite a bit of fun. As is it's entertaining, but I could see it being a lot better later on.

At 10/10/10 11:37 PM, InDuStRiEl wrote: Looks fun. Count me in.

Id like a go :)

I'd be willing to beta test it for you.

Quick question: Why was "L" the fire button on the WASD configuration?

the wasd configuration was kinda added last minute, I just picked a key on the opposite side. would a different key feel better? or even clicking the mouse? (I stayed away from this because I really wanted to stick to keyboard only)

do the rpg mechanics enhance the game?

Also, I noticed a large increase in DPS when you change weapons.
the needle gun pretty much tore through everything much faster than either of the other choices. Was that intentional?

I haven't done advanced weapon comparisons yet, there's plenty of room for tweaking. I did notice the needle gun was powerful but it looks like it either needs to do less damage or cost more.

A couple of times I'd hear an electronic-ish sound when browsing through the Parts shop.
Also the game would say I'd have one of a certain part in the Parts shop, but when I'd check the garage it wouldn't be there. To be specific, I can only be sure this happened with the enhanced engine. (It may have happened with another part but I'm unsure of that much.)

there are absolutely no sfx put into the game yet so I'm not sure why that would be happening. what browser and OS are you using?
and are you sure you weren't confusing one engine for another? there are three types available so far- standard, enhanced, efficient. they all have similar stats/appearance.

Yeah! Once this gets finished I can see this being quite a bit of fun. As is it's entertaining, but I could see it being a lot better later on.

thanks!

ok, caught up on adds again.
I'm gonna head out for a bit, but I'll be back later. I think I'll cap the testers for now at 12
thanks for the input so far!

looks incredibly boring. from the pic you took, I can tell you just ripped off all the sonic games.

At 10/11/10 12:42 AM, Afro-Ninja wrote: I think I'll cap the testers for now at 12

Damn you, I want in!

So, let's see what we had here in this game...

At 10/10/10 11:36 PM, Afro-Ninja wrote: Are the controls and interface intuitive?

The controls feel really good in-game, but when in the shop, it's kind of awkward to navigate, with the exit/cancel button being escape. I'm more used to shmup games where the shoot/accept button is Z, and the exit/cancel button is X, but that's just an average thing I've noticed.

is the difficulty too easy or too hard?

Ah, I'm also used to shmups that are difficult from the get-go, but the curve in this one was alright. The difficultly kind of jumped between the last level of the first world and its boss, but that could be easily remedied by introducing some of the bosses attack patterns in earlier levels.

do the rpg mechanics enhance the game?

RPG elements in shmups aren't really new, and I didn't really notice the base states until later on, but I do like the customization you offer for the ship. The whole system of unlocking expansion slots seems like something I'd really enjoy, and having the ability to control the angle of each gun on your ship is really intuitive.

did you find any bugs?

None, as far as I could tell. Was there supposed to be sound? I didn't hear any...

did the game run well?

Very much so, no slowdown, stuttering, or random speeding up. And this is with the experimental 64-bit Flash Player.

is it... fun?

When I started playing, it felt kind of dull, but I was more and more engrossed into it as the game progressed. I'd like to see what lies beyond the second planet, and I'm sure enhanced visuals will help to improve the overall experience.

thanks!

No problem, none at all. NG needs more quality shmups on the site, and you're definitely going to be one to deliver.

ok I added samen and jezuz, LEAVING NOW 4 REAL THO BYE

I agree with many of the users. This game looks fun as all hell!

I just want to clarify my last post, I'll test it out!

At 10/10/10 11:36 PM, Afro-Ninja wrote: Are the controls and interface intuitive?

I wouldn't really say "intuitive." It seemed almost awkward trying to navigate the menus with the arrow keys and the escape button. And I'd really like to see mouse control as an option. What I liked least about the controls was that I had to use the small letter keys to shoot, as opposed to bigger keys, such as my space bar or the shift key. It was also annoying whenever I had to navigate one menu with the keyboard on one page, then had to switch to the mouse on the next.

is the difficulty too easy or too hard?

It might be because it was only the first two levels, but I found it very easy. The lowest my health ever got within my first playthrough was in the high 80's. It definitely needs to be bumped up a little.

do the rpg mechanics enhance the game?

It was really unnoticeable. Sure, I got the little level bar at the end, but it doesn't seem to do anything at this point, so I can't really answer this question.

did you find any bugs?

A few with the menu screen. Whenever I was in the world select screen and pushed "P," the game displayed the "You died" screen. Restart wouldn't work, so I pushed escape, and was taken to Planet Description page. Pressing escape once more took me back to the File Select menu, with the "Are you sure you want to exit?" overlay still on the screen. I was stuck here, so I had to refresh the page.

But for whatever reason, I couldn't get it to glitch like that again.

did the game run well?

It ran perfectly. It never even dipped below 54 fps.

is it... fun?

Without the bells and whistles of the exp system, it wasn't all too fun. I did, however, like the customization aspect. The ability to rotate the weapons on my ship was pretty cool.

thanks!

Cool.

Posting a closed beta on a public forum, with upwards of hundreds of viewers a day.

That is a good idea.

At 10/11/10 12:40 AM, Afro-Ninja wrote:

the wasd configuration was kinda added last minute, I just picked a key on the opposite side. would a different key feel better? or even clicking the mouse? (I stayed away from this because I really wanted to stick to keyboard only)

For now L is fine, I can't think of another that would be better at the moment. Also wouldn't clicking the mouse be kind of odd? It would be one thing if you could aim with the mouse, but I think it would be weird to have to click the mouse to shoot when you're not aiming with it.

As for the arrow key configuration, most people are familiar with games that use z and x for menus so that might be better.

I haven't done advanced weapon comparisons yet, there's plenty of room for tweaking. I did notice the needle gun was powerful but it looks like it either needs to do less damage or cost more.

The needle gun absolutely demolishes the other guns in terms of power, and the pattern seems to follow into the second set of weapons as well. If you want to keep the weapon prices similar you may want to decrease the firing speed, or you could just increase the price by like ten or twenty and have it be the best weapon of the three.

Whether you've done this or not I can't tell, but maybe you could give the enemies each an individual Defense rating which allows them to negate small amounts of each attack, so that way certain enemies will be a bit more resistant to the rapid fire weapons. I could see the slower firing but higher damage weapons getting some more use because of it.

I know it sounds kind of stupid, but I figure I might as well throw it out there.

there are absolutely no sfx put into the game yet so I'm not sure why that would be happening. what browser and OS are you using?

Now that I think about it, It was most likely one of my friends logging into Steam that I heard. But just so you know, I'm using Mozilla Firefox on Microsoft Windows XP professional SP3.

and are you sure you weren't confusing one engine for another? there are three types available so far- standard, enhanced, efficient. they all have similar stats/appearance.

I mean when I was in the first planet's shop when I went to look at the Enhanced engine it said I had one before I had bought any modules. I don't think there were any other modules to confuse it with. For example:

* Box with stats here*
You own: 1