Hi, gamedev.net. I've been working on a mobile game for some time now, and I'm looking for some feedback. Having a hard time staying motivated, so hopefully sharing my progress will help.

My main fears are that the core gameplay isn't fun or intuitive. The game is basically a mashup of Brickout and Sci-Fi Shmups. The player takes the role of a civilian power-core transporter pulled into a galactic war. The ship isn't armed with any conventional weapons. Instead, the player bounces a power core at foes while simultaneously dodging incoming fire. Taking damage destabilizes the core, making it faster and harder to handle.

My current prototype is located here: https://jwmartin0988.github.io/Repository/. Levels 1-15 are currently playable. This was a quick port from my Android build to WebGL, so a few bugs cropped up and you may need to zoom out if you have a smaller monitor. Like me.

Mainly looking for feedback on the feel of the gameplay. Note that if you strike the core while moving, some of your velocity is imparted, making it possible to send it where you like with a little practice. 

Hello,

just tried a couple of levels and I have one question for you.

How do I lose? I lost all my reserve cores but the game went on, also tried to lose all the core stability.

My opinion is that the gameplay is OK, I like it. I would just add some score system and maybe some progression and/or power ups.

Don't lose your motivation and good luck with the game!

See ya!

@v790

Many thanks for giving it a whirl. I haven't yet implemented "game over" yet, as I'm still testing new mechanics and failing levels often.

Losing all core instability doesn't cost you a core, just makes it nearly impossible to keep up with, so you'll likely lose it. I'll be sure to communicate that to the player when I throw a tutorial together.

You're right, I do need to implement a scoring system based on time and damage taken. And maybe leaderboard support, since I bought native mobile support assets.

I'm still undecided as far as how to introduce powerups. My first instinct is to craft stages around powerups unique to that stage. 

I'm looking to come up with just a few more common enemies. I think then I'll be able to come up with enough unique configurations to offer 50 challenging levels. Any ideas as far as that goes?

12 hours ago, Jacob Martin said:

My first instinct is to craft stages around powerups unique to that stage. 

I'm looking to come up with just a few more common enemies. I think then I'll be able to come up with enough unique configurations to offer 50 challenging levels. Any ideas as far as that goes?

This is good indeed.

I recentrly played Titanfall 2 and one of the things I liked more is the variation the game provides to each level (e.g. in a level you travel to the past and back to the present in order to avoid obstacles, in another you have a power gun to activate various devices). I think this is a powerful mean to avoid boring repetitivity.

You can also play with different power ups and enemies in order to provide challenge. I think that maybe a certain enemy is easy to destroy with a certain power up, while in a level without that power up the player will struggle more to destroy the same enemy (for you this means that you can implement less enemies and power ups and provide interesting gameplay mixing these two elements).

Let me know if you'll ever need other feedback.

Bye!

I think I'll start with that in level 5, the first appearance of the "sniper". Buff it and offer a powerup that lets you aim the core through the blockers easily.

And maybe a powerup that lets you fire projectiles, allowing traditional bullet-hell shmup levels on occasion.