Some Thoughts/Requests/Ideas

[vbgrim]

Was doing some searching on how to get a good version of Robotron for PC, and stumbled upon your games.

They're fun.  I have some ideas/suggestions?

Firstly, it'd be nice to get rid of the "coloring" option on duo.  It's hard to track objects when they pass through areas of same coloring, especially for us colorblind men. (I believe that at least 7% of all men are colorblind)

Secondly, in duo there are circular "powerups"... I do not see what they do, or find mention on what they do.  I'd have thought that they added to your tolerance or allowed for collisions or hits, but it doesn't seem to be that way.  It'd be nice to be able to add "energy" in the same way that mono allows.  A "life" indicator would be nice in duo also.

Lastly, (at least for now) whilst playing duo on it's easiest level, the furthest I can get is 88% and I consider myself a better than average gamer.  Maybe even easier settings would be nice?  I'd get along better if there were energy power ups?

Hate to sound like I'm complaining about a free game, but from your responses to some posts it seems that you enjoy tweaking things to make for better gaming.

Thanks for driving me and my clanmates crazy with these games.  Look forward to their improvements and sequels.

[las6]

I believe that at least 7% of all men are colorblind

Now that you say so, I do remember that... as far as I'm concerned, this is more of a graphical department problem than gameplay since changing That aspect of gameplay would severely affect the overall gameplay. So in a nutshell, the enemies have to be more visible for people who are fully or partially colorblind. I'll see what we can do about that.

Hate to sound like I'm complaining about a free game, but from your responses to some posts it seems that you enjoy tweaking things to make for better gaming.

Nah, you're not complaining. As we do enjoy making better games. And this is where the feedbacks come into play.

[fog]

Hi Vbgrim and welcome

Hate to sound like I'm complaining about a free game, but from your responses to some posts it seems that you enjoy tweaking things to make for better gaming.

As las6 has already said we always welcome constructive feedback so your suggestions are very much appreciated.

(Just to clarify for anyone else reading, you appear to have the names DUO and mono mixed up in your comments )

Firstly, it'd be nice to get rid of the "coloring" option on duo.  It's hard to track objects when they pass through areas of same coloring, especially for us colorblind men. (I believe that at least 7% of all men are colorblind)

Unfortunatley, again as las6 has already mentioned, the colouring is an essential part of the gameplay in mono as the various colours alter the behaviour of the enemies that travel over them.  However that is a valid point you raise so we'll discuss whether there is something we can do about it.

Secondly, in duo there are circular "powerups"... I do not see what they do, or find mention on what they do.  I'd have thought that they added to your tolerance or allowed for collisions or hits, but it doesn't seem to be that way.  It'd be nice to be able to add "energy" in the same way that mono allows.  A "life" indicator would be nice in duo also.

The round powerups in mono are in fact energy powerups.  IIRC they give you 10% of your energy back.

The energy/life indicator was hidden to give the game a cleaner, uncluttered look.  To compensate for this we use the background to indicate how much energy remains.  The more it pulsates, the less energy you have left.

I appreciate some people would prefer a clearer onscreen indication though, so in the full version of mono the HUD will be fully configurable by the user.

Lastly, (at least for now) whilst playing duo on it's easiest level, the furthest I can get is 88% and I consider myself a better than average gamer.  Maybe even easier settings would be nice?

Tricky one this.  mono is arguably one of those games where in theory it is possible to complete but in practice it might never be.  Because of the way the background effects the enemies and therefore the difficulty of the game, the nearer you get to completion the harder it becomes.

Current thinking for the full version of mono is to add 2 extra difficuly levels.  One extra ultra hard level and one easier level where, among other tweaks, enemy bullets will probably be removed.

[vbgrim]

Yep, I have mono and duo mixed up in my notings.  I realized this after posting, but was fairly certain you'd spot my transgression immediately.

Wow, what a quick and thorough response.  Look forward to whatever comes in the future.

[dadrew1]

Yeah, the game is close to impossible to beat ;-)  It's woefully hard to hit enemies that are in the corner, much less enough of them to color it enough!  LOL


I like it that way though - its a lot like Nethack - you may never beat it, but you know its possible, so your going to keep on trying!!!  Craziness!

[musty]

   First of all  Mono is great...
It has great potential as a game and shouldn't be regarded as a technical demo. It deserves to be improved and marketed. I believe that a very simple addition would be enough to increase the gameplay variety and replay value of the game. This simple addition is the 'smart bomb'. The bombs should be in limited numbers and new ones should only be granted  at very high score levels or at the end of the levels. This small addition may have an immense effect on the quality of the gameplay and shouldn't be so hard to implement. Lastly I really love your simplistic style. I hope this one becomes a great success.

[fog]

Hi musty and thanks for the comments.

There is every chance smart bombs will make it into the full version of mono.  Having played quite a bit of Geometry Wars 2 I've realised that, if awarded sparingly, they do add a whole new strategic element to the gameplay.

[musty]

 Thank you for replying. Your positive and quick responses to all kinds of criticisms and requests encourages users to interact with you and I believe this approach will improve the final products. After playing the game for the 3rd time I realized some aspects of the game that I haven't realized the first time  . I have a few more suggestions.
  Somewhere in the forums I have come across some remarks such as 'We are planning to remove enemy bullets.' etc.
  If I were you I wouldn't be fooled by the comments about how hard or impossible the game is. I think it should be next to impossible to beat and the important part is the learning curve here. If you are planning to remove enemy bullets just for the visual unity then I can't argue with that. That's a basic design issue and if I were to suggest anything different in that department it would become a different game altogether.
  So what I am suggesting then?
  I think even if the enemies are all the same visually they should be acting differently. Some colors should avoid us or our bullets and some colors should love kamikaze dives. As far as I could see if you hang on in a particular area of the screen for a long time the only danger that can home on you is the enemy bullets. Other enemy movements aren't intelligent. (Don't seem to be at least)

[fog]

Thank you for replying. Your positive and quick responses to all kinds of critisisms and requests encourages users to interact with you and I believe this approach will improve the final products.

And that is why we encourage and appreciate all feedback

Somewhere in the forums I have come across some remarks such as 'We are planning to remove enemy bullets.' etc.

Perhaps I'd better clarify that as I can't remember exactly what I said.  We will probably be removing the bullets from the easiest difficulty setting but they will certainly be staying on the harder difficulty settings.  There is already something similar in the current game where the smallest enemy type only appear on the hardest difficulty setting.

Basically the plan is to add another couple of difficulty settings to handle this and acknowledge that some people find it hard and others would like more of a challenge.  We intend to add a very easy setting with bullets removed and a new very hard "one hit kill" setting to provide an additional challenge.

I think it should be next to impossible to beat and the important part is the learning curve here.

As I've said elsewhere I tend to agree.  IMO it should be a game that in theory is possible to beat but in practice maybe never will be beaten.  I may be wrong but I think that's half the appeal. 

I think even if the enemies are all the same visually they should be acting differently. Some colors should avoid us or our bullets and some colors should love kamikaze dives.

In the new version there are many different levels and the enemies on each level will react slightly differently.  Think of the current demo versions dumb bouncy enemies as representing level 1 of the full game.  Further levels will have much more variety in enemy behaviour, weaponey etc.

Other enemy movements aren't intelligent. (Don't seem to be at least)

Enemy behaviour is totally controlled by the amount of blue in the background.  The more blue then the faster they will home in on the player.  Therefore early in the game it may well be possible to remain still and not be hit other than by enemy bullets.  I'm not sure you could really get a high score (%) using this technique but I guess it's just another tactic that may work for some people.



[edit] fixed your quotes for you --Mo [/edit]

[Ptolemy]

There are three things I would like to see in the finished mono version, if its ever more than a demo...

-Being able to vary the mouse speed would be nice, so you can change the sensitivity without having to change the windows setting.
-Also I find the 7 way spray more effective near the end than the final weapon, if you could choose when to stop upgrading weapons I think it would be sweet. Although I guess that makes the endgame more of a challenge.
-Although it can be frustrating at times I love the fact that the powerups are random, it means there is still that element of luck involved.  PLEASE don't change this in the full-version. i.e. please don't make the power-ups dependent on how many or how frequently circles are destroyed.

Thanks again guys... you keep makin' 'em and I'll keep playin' 'em.

[fog]

Cool.  We like suggestions.

-Being able to vary the mouse speed would be nice, so you can change the sensitivity without having to change the windows setting.

Yeah that sounds reasonable.  The idea behind keeping it fixed is so everyone plays with the same settings but I suppose you could change the windows settings to get around that.  I could add code to stop that but....

May as well give players the option.  Making the movement faster has it's disadvantages for the player too so I guess it's your choice.

-Also I find the 7 way spray more effective near the end than the final weapon, if you could choose when to stop upgrading weapons I think it would be sweet. Although I guess that makes the endgame more of a challenge.

I think we agree the weapon structure in mono could be better   We'll adress that in the future.

-Although it can be frustrating at times I love the fact that the powerups are random, it means there is still that element of luck involved.  PLEASE don't change this in the full-version. i.e. please don't make the power-ups dependent on how many or how frequently circles are destroyed.

Yeah they will remain totally random.  We may adjust the frequency but that's it.

There are three things I would like to see in the finished mono version, if its ever more than a demo...

It will eventually be more than a demo.....just a question of when.


Thanks for the feedback.

[TheKhakinator]

Mono (and to a lesser extent, the other games) will be like the ancient puzzles we have now, things like Sudoku, etc. Mono especially because it has that sort of final total aim, not just an arbitrary highscore.

[fog]

Mono especially because it has that sort of final total aim, not just an arbitrary highscore.

Yeah I think I've said before, according to feedback the simple scoring system in mono appears to be a major part of the hook.