I like it.

Its all pretty much perfect. The controls are great, and everything is downright awesome. The design of the explosion is fantastic. I really liked that. And its an allround decent game.

Just a few things that i believe could be fixed.

The all round design of menu is ugly. I know making the menu look pretty, isnt a big deal, but it could end up making a lot more people wanting to play. After the preloader loads, they see the menu, (and believe me iv'e done it heaps of times) and if it looks ugly, or 'too simple' they turn around and go back to the flash portal to see if there are any better submissions. Maybe fixing the menu is a good idea?

Are the controls and interface intuitive?

Like i said, I like the controls. Most games like this have similar controls... Either it being WASD, or the arrow keys, and occasionally the mouse is incorporated.

The have great response, and have an instant effect.

is the difficulty too easy or too hard?

Like ERJ said it is far too easy. I know the difficulty will probably increase when you advance levels, but for these two, its probably far too easy. Like i said about the menus, if the first few levels are too hard/easy they will leave, and find a new game to play on for hours. You can see where im going:

MAKE IT HARD. But obviously not TOO hard. In the middle between the two difficulties.

did you find any bugs?

So far, I have not.

did the game run well?

It ran well for me, obviously i dont know about the rest of the Beta testers. But yeah it ran well, not glitches/bugs.

is it... fun?

To be honest, after playing hundreds of games like this, and even ending up making like 5 (1 example below) I didnt have fun. You have to admit, that, no, it isnt original, and has been done a lot. Im sure someone will find it, and have a heap of fun on it, but i didnt. Sorry. Not my kinda game anymore, even though i make game EXACTLY like this. They will probably end up getting deleted in the future.

But as i just said that you could say that it has aspects that are original. Like you said:

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)

So yeah. Another great game from Afro-Ninja studios. Good job. I will most-definitely play it when it arives at the Flash Portals front step.

• 

  by <deleted>

  Under Judgment

  (Everyone)

(game i was talking about)

Count me in

I've been playing these sorts of schmups since like Tyrian. I'd love to give your game a try.

i'll join in and help you out

At 10/11/10 12:58 AM, Afro-Ninja wrote: ok I added samen and jezuz, LEAVING NOW 4 REAL THO BYE

You never added me.
:FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

At 10/10/10 11:36 PM, Afro-Ninja wrote: THINGS TO THINK ABOUT:

Are the controls and interface intuitive?

Yes, your game has simple controls. I used the arrow keys and WASD controls and I found that both control styles are simple. I do recommend that rather than using the 'L' key for WASD, you use right ctrl. This is simply because its further away from the directional movement keys, and is more of a classic control scheme. The ship moves smoothly at all times, good work. As far as menu-planet navigation goes, mouse support would be wonderful. Pushing the escape key, rather than clicking on a back button just felt awkward to me.

is the difficulty too easy or too hard?

With games of this genre, it is difficult to say anything about the difficulty. This is only because the game usually becomes more challenging as progress is made. The first level is almost practice, while the last level might be nearly impossible, and still nothing definitive could be said about the difficulty. The upgrade and experience systems could possibly make later levels too easy, if leveled up enemies are not included. I'm sure you are aware of this, but it is just something to keep in mind. Make sure every level is a challenge for players who have yet to purchase all available upgrades, and make sure things are not too challenging for players who have.

do the rpg mechanics enhance the game?

Yes. I did find myself grinding a little bit in order to level up prior to a boss fight... The level up rewards are so minute, tho... Perhaps add a little more to this concept?

did you find any bugs?

I hold down the fire button constantly... Every now and then, while using the arrow keys, I would stop firing, and have to release the fire button, and hold it down again. I don't think it is the game, tho... perhaps a keyboard setting? Anyway... its nothing major, and it didn't hinder my gameplay at all.

did the game run well?

Definitely. No bog-downs, and ran very smoothly.
I would definitely attempt to improve the graphics in several areas.... but since this is a raw and unpolished game, I'm sure you already have that in mind. But, yeah the game ran very well, and upgrading the graphic content probably wouldn't hurt framerate too much.

is it... fun?

Definitely. I found myself grinding even after the game was "finished" (after planet 2) and played the same level over and over again until I had enough. Top-down shooters are usually great, as long as you include (which you have) the elements of score, money/upgrades, and XP.

Please Add:
A level up screen that shows you exactly which stats increase and by how much.
(Is it just HP/armor??)

Graphics/Sound! lol

Things to consider:
Rather than dividing XP earned for each individual enemy after you level up...
Perhaps the total XP required to level up should double, and XP gained should remain the same...

The way it is currently:
At level 1, Enemy A gives 4XP.
When you reach level 2, Enemy A gives 2XP.
When you reach level 3+, Enemy A gives 1XP.
The way it should be:
At level 1, Enemy A gives 4XP.
When you reach level 2, Enemy A still gives 4XP, but you need twice as much XP than you did on level 1, to hit the next level.
When you reach level 3, Enemy A still gives 4XP, but you need twice as much XP than you did on level 2, to hit the next level.
etc.

Overview:
This looks like it is going to be a great game when it is finished. Top-down shooters are some of my favorite flash games. Although this was a beta, the game was still excellent in its raw form. I can't wait to see the finished product, and thank you for sharing the beta with us!

Can I play?

I would love to play it and give you some feedback on it.

i wanna play i love shmups ps im a cool, GUY!!!!

At 10/11/10 12:58 AM, Afro-Ninja wrote: ok I added samen and jezuz, LEAVING NOW 4 REAL THO BYE

Luv u

At 10/11/10 03:28 AM, Samen wrote:

At 10/11/10 12:58 AM, Afro-Ninja wrote: ok I added samen and jezuz, LEAVING NOW 4 REAL THO BYE

Luv u

Lucky stiff...

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

Well, for what they are, yeah. There wasn't anything I was confused over, though the intro said I had the option of using L and WASD instead of S and Arrows, but I couldn't figure out how to turn that on.
And the menus are kinda chunky to navigate through, and it felt like Shop and Garage should have been in their own tab together, with a mouseclick interface to go between. Having to mash Esc to back my way out the start is a bit of a stretch (literally).
Also, a heads up telling me when new gear and upgrade slots would be available (ie, what level I would have to be to obtain them) would be very welcome.
Also, a simple animation for going between levels (or even planets) would be nice, a la Super Mario World.

is the difficulty too easy or too hard?

Seems good, particularly the parts where ships fly up from the bottom of the screen and surprise you.

do the rpg mechanics enhance the game?

Most certainly, though they could use some polish from an interface perspective.

did you find any bugs?

Not yet.

did the game run well?
is it... fun?

So far, so good. :)

thanks!

Oh, no. Thank you.

I'm back, but it's bed time, so some things to note for now:

the controls
I'm planning to make X the cancel button instead of ESC, and I'm thinking about making spacebar a universal fire button instead of switching between a/l
in response to xports- you never actually need to use the mouse. all dialog boxes are navigable with the control scheme that you have set.

the menus
everything you see in the game minus the ship models is placeholder art. so don't worry about clunky looking menus/interface.

other stuff
I'm going to add a little message when you level up to show you which stats are being increased and to what amount. this crossed my mind before but rob's suggestion made me remember it. I'll also tone down the needle weapon and do some stats to balance them better. parts in world 2 should be more expensive as well.

AS FOR PEOPLE STILL WANTING TO TEST:
I'm going to make some changes to the game first based on the suggestions so far, then add a new group of testers. and crazy giraffe: you never actually said you wanted to test the game ;)

NIGHT

ACCESS DENIED - You do not have permission to view this page.

OH, I get it, I'm not good enough to est your game huh? :P

I'll test it for you.

I should probably lock this to make sure the requests don't build up too much.

thanks again for the input, see you guys tomorrow

UPDATE

I have added everyone else in this thread requesting a play to the testers list.
GAME WILL NOW HAVE "BETA 1.01" IN THE BOTTOM LEFT
IF YOU DO NOT SEE IT, KEEP REFRESHING UNTIL YOU DO

Changes/Additions:

-X now cancels instead of ESC
-fixed the pause screen bug found by xports
-leveling up will now show you what your new stats are
-planet 2 shop items are more expensive
-extra text has been added to the new game intro screen (mostly taken from the description in my first post)

regarding the weapon/DPS issues
After checking the stats I see that I need to revamp the damage/atk system as a whole.
the problem is that right now, a weapon does base attack + extra attack as its damage.
this is fine at low levels, but as you increase your base damage it means that faster firing weapons will always outgrow the slow firing ones, and eventually pass them.
most likely I'll change the point system to one of percentage, but I'm not sure if that's enough to fix the issue. for now though the weapons will remain off balance until I come up with something better.

regarding the difficulty level
the consensus so far seems that it's on the easy side, if not too easy. I might increase it a bit but I'll leave it alone for now. I don't mind having the first two planets easier as opposed to harder. once they reach the third planet the player should be familiar with the game by now, and they'll also have three expansion slots. so I think it's safe to start making things a bit tougher

Count me in, I'd like to test it.

ok, pimpella added

I was kind of afraid of this- the people that played or wanted to play last night probably aren't here right now :/

At 10/11/10 07:34 PM, Afro-Ninja wrote: ok, pimpella added

I was kind of afraid of this- the people that played or wanted to play last night probably aren't here right now :/

I'm here :)

Also, it still says says to press ESC instead of X whenever you die.

At 10/11/10 07:36 PM, xports wrote: Also, it still says says to press ESC instead of X whenever you die.

d'oh, good catch.

At 10/11/10 07:08 PM, Afro-Ninja wrote:

regarding the weapon/DPS issues
some stuff

I'm very happy to hear this.

alright i just played up to the 3rd level and didn't get much farther than that, so this is all i can say about it for now.

Are the controls and interface intuitive?

yes, i was gonna write something about how it might be a little too hard to keep pressing the button to fire, but then i realized that the highest priced weapon does that rapid-fire thing. Anyway, the controls work great, its possible to dodge things and its possible to get hit alot and still finish the level.

is the difficulty too easy or too hard?

the first level is perfect to start the game, its not too hard and not too easy, its a good balance. The 2nd level on the other hand gets crazy hectic! Thats when i realized that you really have to replay the past levels in order to buy weapons, armor, and to level up. 3rd level works the same way except harder.

do the rpg mechanics enhance the game?

Yes it does! I think it works great in the game, but I am assuming you'll put more items in the garage later. Its too hard for me to get past the 3rd level unless i have more armor or stronger weapons (and i bought the best ones too).

did you find any bugs?

No not really, except that after you die and it gives you the choice to press the esc. button to go back to the garage, that button doesn't work. Not really a bug I guess.

did the game run well?

It worked great and smooth! It didn't lag or skip or anything, nothing did.

is it... fun?

Hellz Yeah!

At 10/11/10 08:05 PM, JustinB6 wrote: Yes it does! I think it works great in the game, but I am assuming you'll put more items in the garage later. Its too hard for me to get past the 3rd level unless i have more armor or stronger weapons (and i bought the best ones too).

what in particular do you find hard about the third stage? a certain enemy or wave of enemies?

At 10/11/10 08:58 PM, Afro-Ninja wrote:

At 10/11/10 08:05 PM, JustinB6 wrote: Yes it does! I think it works great in the game, but I am assuming you'll put more items in the garage later. Its too hard for me to get past the 3rd level unless i have more armor or stronger weapons (and i bought the best ones too).

what in particular do you find hard about the third stage? a certain enemy or wave of enemies?

well at first its alright, its obviously supposed to get harder but it can still be possible to get through it. its not until i get to that mini-boss ship and thats when it gets too hard, because by the time i reach it i already have half my health (or even lower) and im avoiding its bullets (the way it fires in a circle-like way) as well as the other enemies. Thats really how far i got in the game too.

Oh, and if you want to avoid one of these NG'ers giving off the link to the game, I would advise you remove the link to the game from the preloader screen.

oh good call, I didn't realize ng only blocked access to the page itself

1) Because it's most-likely not a 1 bullet job to get a blue or red gem (or if there are any higher), there should be some kind of health boost from the gems higher than the blue and red ones. The blue one should give the player +5 health, and the red +10. And maybe you should make a new gem devoted to health that gives the player +20.

I've debated a lot about health drops. a few here and there wouldn't help but I kind of like the focus on skill instead of getting lucky with a health pick up. as it stands now the levels are on the easy side so I'll see if this comes up again as the levels get harder

3) If there is only one engine, and the player hasn't equipped an engine, can the engine just auto-equip when you leave the Garage?
4) I found myself holding "A" the entire time, so could you choose a button (probably Z or something) that activates auto-fire?

hm, both of these would be possible. they're more of extra polish so I'll keep them in mind for later down the road

2) Can you make from the start that the player has 2 expansion slots, and one of which is required to face front? (The weapon item can be changed, it's just the rotation that cannot be.)

what's your reasoning for this? to make the first levels more hectic?
again, the first levels are a bit easy so adding the second slot immediately would make them cake. I'd have to go through and rebalance all eight areas :(

At 10/10/10 11:40 PM, Afro-Ninja wrote:

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.

I thought it was that Alpha is playable but not complete and Beta is complete but still needs playtesting.

At 10/11/10 11:32 PM, Afro-Ninja wrote: what's your reasoning for this? to make the first levels more hectic?
again, the first levels are a bit easy so adding the second slot immediately would make them cake. I'd have to go through and rebalance all eight areas :(

I think it's fine the way it is now. The first levels are easy enough, and giving a player even more slots from the beginning would make this whole game laughably easy.

Okay, I finally got around to playing it! Here is my feedback:

Are the controls and interface intuitive?

I found the controls to be pretty much flawless, there wasn't really anything new to then, just your average shoot 'em up controls. One thing to note is that the movement controls feel very stiff, I would suggest tweaking that a bit.

is the difficulty too easy or too hard?

The difficulty isn't too easy, that's for sure, and it's not exactly too hard, but only one life at the beginning of the game? What's up with that. I'm assuming the complete version will have multiple lives from the start.

do the rpg mechanics enhance the game?

I don't really know how to express my feelings on this. I like the options you gave us that's for sure, but it's nothing more than a regular upgrade system....on steroids.

did you find any bugs?

I'll admit, I only played a few levels, but I didn't find any bugs thus far, you have yourself a pretty clean beta.

did the game run well?

Flawless.

is it... fun?

Although your average space style/air style shoot 'em up, the RPG elements (although not too new) did bring a kind of spice to the table. I admit I only played a few levels, but not because it wasn't fun (rather because I had just about all I needed for feedback). I look forward to the completed version.

At 10/11/10 11:39 PM, GenericName54 wrote: I thought it was that Alpha is playable but not complete and Beta is complete but still needs playtesting.

eh, I'm not really an expert on the terminology so sure, maybe.
I just know that ng used to have an alphas section and all that was required was some screenshots and info. you could add a .swf file if you wanted.

At 10/11/10 11:40 PM, KillerSkull wrote:

is the difficulty too easy or too hard?

The difficulty isn't too easy, that's for sure, and it's not exactly too hard, but only one life at the beginning of the game? What's up with that. I'm assuming the complete version will have multiple lives from the start.

i was kinda hoping it wouldn't have any lives at all, just keep replaying the level and know whats coming next to complete it. you do know that if you die its not "game over now play it all over again" right? You can go back to the levels you unlocked afterwards.