Ship Build Screen

It's a bit rough around the edges. I have a couple of things that I need to update about it, before the next big release. But here is the first cut at the ship building screen.

Last post I covered a little bit about randomly generating planets so that I could use them in my game as part of the progression system. Since then I have gotten some feedback from a local group of developers. And over the last month I have been trying to fix all the issues that they helped me identify. So far the ones I've been able to get fixed have been:

• Multiple blasters slowed down the game
• No way to add blasters on mobile
• You sometimes didn't know why you got shot down on mobile because you didn't see your ship get hit
• False feedback when enemy ships leave the screen

Some of the issues that still need to be tackled:

• Not sure how to start or where to go from ship build screen (probably be tackled as a last dev effort, for a brief tut/intro)
• Desire to tap on pulsing ship part in ship build screen, instead of using the change button (totally get this)
• Not sure what the expanding circles are in the game (hint. they're explosions, hehe, need help with this)
• Feedback a little too much on mobile (probably add an option to disable feedback, and a couple other things)

Current Tasks

It seems that even the smallest of game projects bring with them numerous things that need to be done. I believe that it's just a matter of what you cut out that determines how long it will take to complete. At almost every turn with this project I find myself re-evaluating necessity and trying to error on the side of simplicity. Of course I feel I am falling for the traps of adding too much. There are tons of things I could add at this point but the question is are they relevant to building a complete, playable, fun, experience. And fun can be dangerous with design because a lot of times we confuse fun with 'cool'. Which leads me to a piece of advice

I think there is 'fun' and then there's 'cool'. And cool is not always fun!

Bug, bugs, bugs, why are there always bugs???

This past week I have been focusing on fixing the gamepad support. Just a couple more changes and I will be able to get that released which will also bring ship part cost into the picture. So you no longer will be able to just add blasters willy-nilly they will have a price. So if you haven't gotten the game, get it now and stockpile some amber before I make the next release, hehe Get it on itch. You can purchase the android version too which, I think is much better than the PC version, it just feels better to me, though gamepad is feeling good too, but I'll let you be the judge of that Google Play.

As far as overall game design goes I'm getting to the point where I can start tweaking incentives and balancing out mechanics. These are the really intriguing decisions that will determine things like how long you play for, whether you spend more time in the ship building screen or in the planet or mission screens. This is also the part of design that will be a first for me because I have never really built a game up to this point. So this is really exciting. I am so glad to be sharing this too, it feels good to have a place like steemit where I can share this with such an energetic and incentivized community.

Game Progression

I want to share a bit about the game story and background and some of the things that I have been thinking about design wise. So right now the game is about you (a character in the game), with your ships, going from planet to planet helping each rid themselves of the aliens who have invaded. What limited story-line there will be in the game consists of AmberSol being the name of the planet where the alien attack originates from and for which you will be searching. I think this will be a good way to add the final overarching goal of the game so that there is some sense of progress through the game.

Feedback moment: I am completely open to suggestions about how to accomplish this but having some way of acquiring plans or starcharts or something that brings you closer to finding AmberSol, I think would be really cool. Let me know if you agree or disagree with this idea?

Planetary Objects

Here is the current planetary overview. It needs some updating and a lot of things that could be added to it to give it a much more meaningful purpose. But for now each of the green boxes with numbers represents the alien squadrons orbiting the planet and their count, tap or click them to launch the a mission, their number will be persistent. At least till you restart the game. Eventually it will be saved permanently.

The idea here is to possibly add radars and stations, perhaps trading hubs and such that once cleared you can use and enhance your ability to continue freeing the planet. For instance I have this idea of planetary radar that if freed will show you more info about the alien squadrons. Which you can use to select which of multiple ship designs you wish to bring into missions.

Along with that will be keeping multiple ship schematics as well as built ships. So there are a couple more screens that I believe I will be adding to the game to accomplish the overall design. I'm still debating on what to cut in order to get the game finished faster.

Open Production..let's work together

My main goal for now is to get more of the ship build and part mechanics working. Things like power and conduits to various components. Different types of weapons and parts that enhance the ships effectiveness. I am hoping to do a community competition for alien ship designs to include in the game. I think it would be really cool to see what people can come up with.

If you read this and have any ideas for different types of weapons or parts with side-effects, you'd like to see, let me know. For instance, one idea I have been toying with is the blaster bullets could use to be a bit bigger making hitting your targets a little easier. I will be adding a part that if connected to power will draw more power, slowing the ship a little or depleting shields faster, but will enlarge bullet sizes. So please feel free to let me know what you think would make some cool parts or effects.

For leaving feedback, I have just set up a patreon page where I hope I can incorporate more of the open production aspect of this project but I am still figuring out how to do that with the site, but I will definitely keep you posted on that front.

You can follow me on twitter here.

Open Feedback, Policy

Btw, I am really open to feedback and criticism so if you try the game or something doesn't look good, don't hesitate. I'd rather know what you think now than to spend more time making something that people won't like.

And last but not least here is my latest gameplay video, so you can get a sense about the game.