Feedback: Time Breaker ( Iteration 30 )

[dntoll]

Ok, so here it is the 30th iteration of Time Breaker our Arkanoid clone...
We are closing in on the final release...

2005.10.09 - Time Breaker i30 Released!
Iteration 30 of Time Breaker is available for download (10 637 KB).

Changes are:
Ingame gui is refined
New sound effects
New gravity effects
Modified levels
Modified acid effect
Modified weapon graphics
New menus
New pad design
A lot of smaller fixes!

We would love some feedback on how to make the game better!

[Curiosoft]

Hi,

I like the game. I played it longer than I expected to. I remember a few iterations back when I thought it was "decent"...and now it's good

A couple things...
1) Do you really need that menu on the right side? Can't those bars and timers go on top? Of course, I got use to your layout after a while, so it may not matter...although the current layout makes the breakout area feel smaller.

2) Once you get the game fun, it's time to polish. Better text and graphics and background will probably raise the registration rate quite a bit. Right now, the graphics feel kind of amateur. Maybe a better font would work?

3) When I beat a level, it would be nice to have some kind of animation or special effect for a few seconds before you pop up the info screen. Right now, it feels abrupt; I like how Breakquest gives you a key you can catch, You don't need a key here...but some kind of animation or even an interesting fact at the end too.

4) Btw, I love the interesting facts you present at the beginning of each level.

5) I like the cool special things you have...like Gravity. Brainstorm some more of these cool things...to make the game even more fun.

6) In the beginning, it takes about 10-15 seconds to load...but there is no percent bar or "loading" image to let me know what's going on.

In any case, the game feels cool and fun. It needs a little polish and it'll be really awesome.

Take care,
Curiosoft

[Sharpfish]

I tried this demo out ages og (an early iteration) and I thought the ideas were cool, and the moving blocks etc made me smile. Something curiosoft wrote about the font just reminded me, the fonts did stand out as being a bit "cheap" compared to the main graphics - and that whole r/h panel was a bit sparse and flat looking. Of course the game seem cool anyway and gfx are not everything but as curiosoft said - that extra push on the control panel (or moving it to alpha blended overlays up top) would really give it a more polished look.

Maybe you won't have time for that but I thought I would back up his points.

Good luck with the game!

[dntoll]

Thanx to both of you for taking the time evaluating the game!

We are trying to make the most out of the last release so feedback is crucial!

Regarding the right panel. We had a wider game before, but the game became much more intense and fun when we got a thinner game-space... We will try to make it shine some more...

We will also work with the fonts abit, I think it needs to much more crisp, easier to read and at the same time be funny... not that easy...

I will forward your ideas to the team!

Thanks

Daniel

[redito]

I actually liked the side bar better this iteration. There is better information now on active powerups and I thought it was a good step forward from previous versions. Lots of games use the right side for info so I didn't have to adjust to it at all.

I agree about the fonts though. Especially the ones on the right hand bar that say Points, etc. They look too childish for my taste.

I also think you should work on your main menu background. The menu itself is fine (if a little boring) but there's nothing going on behind it. Perhaps instead of having the menu options in a box you could spread them out across the page. Design some type of graphic for each option or something.

I also agree with Curiosoft about the loading time. The clock is good but it should actually represent the time left to load rather than just spinning endlessly around.

I disagree about the animation at the end of a level though. I like the points screen (better now than previous iterations) and that's sufficient for me. In Ricochet Lost Worlds, for example, all you get at the end of a level is a point count up. This is nice but can actually really slow the game down when you have dozens of balls on the screen and it counts points for each one. Takes ages sometimes. In fact, most of my favorite breakouts don't really offer much at the end of a level. Completing the level is satisfaction enough.

Perhaps a better idea would be to provide a bonus level after completing a certain number of levels. Finish 10 and you get a bonus level of some sort. Something flashier - lots of points - many powerup opportunities - like that.

Hey, all I know is that I'm getting hooked on this game. I really like the direction it's taking and it is definitely a much better game than it was before.

Kudos to the team!

[Anatoly]

And it's me again! This game is progressing so well!
I second that you need to change small fonts on the panel - they look kind of out of place. But the new panel rocks!
Also, I'm not a big fan of personafication - the pad now has eyes! But you might want to ask more people about this aspect. I'm just picky...
Everything else is great!

[Sean Doherty]

This is the first iteration that I have played:

Pros
- the 3D Concept and the spinning characters
- The power-up's and game play

Cons
- the sidebar looks really bad (I would say 1 out of 10); on my machine part of the side bar if off the screen to the right.
- the fonts look like they were cut of of photo shop without any regard for anti-aliasing.
- the music was starting to drive me crazy after three levels

Overall the gameplay is good, your just need better graphics for the fonts and the sidebar; and more music.

[Kestral]

I played your game for the first time, and I played it for quite some time. Very nice! I liked everything about the game, especially the music and power ups. I saw no bugs.

[redito]

OK, I've had more time to play all the way through now and noticed a few more things.

On the Bottom of the Ocean level spieces should be species and beaututiful should be beautiful. On a later level (sorry, don't know the name) you mention a lion's body and a human's head. There is no apostrophe needed for either word here.

I love the Mummy 'rising from the dead' and also the look of the Pharaohs chamber. And the Fan Club is a riot. Great graphics!

Personally, I liked the face on the paddle now but I can see that some might not. To me it adds more personality to the game and it's far more detailed than previous paddles. But it really comes down to how well it adds to the fun of the game. It certainly is more in line with the Droid now and I consider that a good thing.

I also like the new missiles. They look cooler and make a bigger bang. They are a little harder to aim though because they seem to move in a little from where I think they are aiming.

I like the explanatory panel on the bottom right. The printing should be bigger and, not to harp on an issue, the font needs work. You also might add some mention of how many bullets in the mini-gun it takes to break a brick. Intuitively it would seem that one bullet would break one brick but it doesn't seem to work that way.

And again, I have to say that the whole side panel idea works for me. I don't have any problems seeing all of it on my screen and I like the way this new iteration provides information quickly and easily.

[DadTimesTwo]

Thumbs up:

1. Cool levels!

Thumbs down:

1. Interface looks shoddy.
2. I don't like the paddle. It's too busy. It's got too many different parts. Simplify it. It's visually distracting as is.
3. The backgrounds need something more... Perhaps a sense of location.

[dntoll]

Oh! so much feedback!
Thanks to you all for taking the time!!!

It seems we have a lot to do with the gui, fonts and panels... I think the right panel could be a lot "cleaner" we will discuss it in the team...
the font has given us some headaces...

redito: The minigun should need about 3-4 bullets to destroy a brick... but it might need more on double bricks...

Sean Doherty: We have 4 different tunes, I will try to change tunes more frequently... maybe every 2 levels? now its changed every 4 levels...

Sean Dohrety

the sidebar looks really bad (I would say 1 out of 10); on my machine part of the side bar if off the screen to the right.

Could you send me a screenshot of this? please!

I got to put lots of new tickets in trac for the team!
Im currently working with the levels... I like redito´s idea of adding bonus levels... we currently have 2 of them but maybe we should have one every 10 levels...

[WickedEwok]

I just tried the game, and I really enjoyed the concept. Most people have already mentioned the GUI being a little stale. It wasn't that bothersome to me, but the sidebar seems a bit cluttered to be of any use. I never paid much attention to it.

As for the gameplay, there were some long gaps where all I had was an Acid ball or a speed up and it became redundant gameplay for a while. The ball typically only bounces once and comes back, and it seems it's because most of the pieces are central and convex verse a level layout that sees the ball bounce a while before coming back. Breaking a brick at a time isn't so fun, but the powerups are great and they do help immensely. I liked the temple level where the snake rotated around. That gave a lot of variety. While I was shooting the snake, I got some collateral damage going on. I also noticed you drop in powerups when the level is nearly complete, good way to break the frustration of hitting the last brick. Overall great game!

Best,
Marv

[dntoll]

thanks for the feedback Marv!

[delsydsoftware]

This is pretty fun. I played it through tons of levels. I like the variety of powerups, as well as the 3d boards. Very neat.

There were a couple things I noticed that could use a little work, though.

When you click save, it would be nice to have some feedback to the user, telling them the level was saved. Also, the flamethrower has a bit of a quirk. If you hold down the mouse button with the flamethrower, you only destroy a couple bricks. But, if you tap the mouse button in short bursts, you destroy a lot more. It's as if the destruction of bricks with the flamethrower is keyed off of the mouse button's position.

As for the backgrounds, the water background is awesome. The other colored backgrounds seem a bit flat and blurred, though.

This one is going in my collection.

Chris

[dntoll]

thanks Cris for the feedback!

I have corrected the flamethrower issue! I agree on the save feedback... I will make a ticket for this...

[Kestral]

Having played this for a couple of days now, I might add that the game might be a bit too easy. I believe I have yet to "lose" due to the ball falling off the bottom of the screen.

[dntoll]

Kestral: Do you find the Hard setting to easy? Or are you playing with normal setting?

[Kestral]

Normal. But with two kids sitting in my lap yelling "hit it! Hit the ball!" I never missed a beat. I will try on 'hard' and provide a follow up

[dntoll]

Normal. But with two kids sitting in my lap yelling "hit it! Hit the ball!" I never missed a beat. I will try on 'hard' and provide a follow up

Gr8!

I think the easy setting should be very easy
Normal setting should be easy
Hard setting is for genre-fans or after you have played for a while...

(We give different points for different levels... ex Hard setting gives score*1.6 while easy gives score*0.75)

[AVataRR]

Oh man, this download is really really slow. 4.5kb/s and it's not getting any better. It's unfortunate that I can't give you feedback on the game itself, but I thought I'd be a bit of a help and point out this slow download issue. It might become a real problem for you.

[dntoll]

Oh man, this download is really really slow. 4.5kb/s and it's not getting any better. It's unfortunate that I can't give you feedback on the game itself, but I thought I'd be a bit of a help and point out this slow download issue. It might become a real problem for you.

Probably our webbhotel...

I get 400kb/sec...

Anyone else having this problem?

[delsydsoftware]

I'm getting a solid 250k a second here. There first time i downloaded the file, it was closer to 400k a second.

[dntoll]

When you click save, it would be nice to have some feedback to the user, telling them the level was saved. Also, the flamethrower has a bit of a quirk. If you hold down the mouse button with the flamethrower, you only destroy a couple bricks. But, if you tap the mouse button in short bursts, you destroy a lot more. It's as if the destruction of bricks with the flamethrower is keyed off of the mouse button's position.
...
Chris

Thanks for the feedback!
I have now fixed these issues in I31, will be released in one week...

[dntoll]

We got hacked yesterday... (our internal phpbb-forum) sigh...
A completly meaningless act!
It has been restored and updated now.

I have worked on the optimization of our heavier levels today...
The game should work on PIII 500 with TNT2 (with new drivers), if you have a computer ~PIII you are very welcome to test I30 on it... the fps is shown in the window title bar when u run the game in windowed mode...

[Kestral]

My kids love to watch me play your game, so here is some more feedback:

1. I like the pad, especially the way it flexxes when the ball hits it.

2. I find myself wishing the pad could move off the sides a bit so that I could control the ball away from the edges. I compensate by bouncing it off the wall intentionally, but that does not provide as much control. Most other breakout style games seem to let you move the paddle off the sides, so users might expect this.

3. More levels! I have played it through a couple of times now, and find myself wishing there were about three times as many different levels. I assume you are saving them for the production version

4. The crazy ball is cool, and my kids always make me get that power up.

That is all.

[dntoll]

3. More levels! I have played it through a couple of times now, and find myself wishing there were about three times as many different levels. I assume you are saving them for the production version

We have about 100 levels right now and they will be released in the prduction version... But we might change the levels in the demo, just for u :-)

We will release the next version in the beginning of next week... hopefully just one more iteration after that!

[delsydsoftware]

One quick thing, while I'm thinking about it. Right now, when you get to the last level, you start over at the first level again. Have you considered ending the game at the last level?

Keep up the good work. I look forward to the next version.

Chris

[dntoll]

One quick thing, while I'm thinking about it. Right now, when you get to the last level, you start over at the first level again. Have you considered ending the game at the last level?

Keep up the good work. I look forward to the next version.

Chris

hm, we discussed this yesterday... Does an arkanoid game need an end? Maybe we should just add more difficulty the second time you play the levels?

[redito]

I actually like an arkanoid game that has a definable end but others may disagree. I like to play all the way through and then usually, if it's an option, I keep playing it through at progressively harder difficulty levels.

I would suggest, however, that you put a firm limit on the demo. If you provide 10 or 20 great levels in the demo that keep repeating, some people might just keep playing those round and round rather than purchasing the whole game.

[dntoll]

I actually like an arkanoid game that has a definable end but others may disagree. I like to play all the way through and then usually, if it's an option, I keep playing it through at progressively harder difficulty levels.

I would suggest, however, that you put a firm limit on the demo. If you provide 10 or 20 great levels in the demo that keep repeating, some people might just keep playing those round and round rather than purchasing the whole game.

I think we will use some sort of timing wrapper that lets you play the demo for 1 hour... alawar will decide... :-)