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Orbit - Become the spacest spacer the space have ever spaced!

Discussion in 'Works In Progress - Archive' started by Freaking-Pingo, Oct 18, 2014.

  1. Freaking-Pingo

    Freaking-Pingo

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    Orbit is a multiplayer game where either two or four friends compete in destroying each others planet by projecting small balls against each other. When hit by a projectile your planet lose size, and you must maintain a big enough size by consuming projectiles. Play against your friends, and see who becomes the spacest spacer the space have ever spaced!

    The game is a local co-op game all played on a single device, and then its totally FREE. No in-app purchases, no paywall, no nothing. Its available for Android at the moment, but we are currently working on releasing it for iOS as well.
    As for those of you who loves the technical aspects of games, we only make use of two types of objects for our game; Quads for displaying backgrounds and GUI elements, while planets and satellites are made out of particle systems. No amazing shaders, no custom made 3D models, just textures used in various ways, no animations.

    Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.IndieJam2014Orbit.Orbit

    For some of us, this is our first game release ever, so we would very much appreciate some critical feedback. Especially on the rule part. Do you as a player know what to do? Can you figure out the rules on your own? We would really like to avoid a tutorial / description on how to play the game.







     
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  2. Freaking-Pingo

    Freaking-Pingo

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    Since our release, we have only gotten very little feedback on our game, which for us is a little bit disappointing. (We are talking about all feedback in total)
    The feedback we have gotten so far is either that our graphics are simple and nice, and that an exit button for quitting the application would be appreciated, however, that is more or less the only feedback we have gotten. We would really appreciate if we could get some more feedback regarding the game mechanics themselves. Is the game unplayable on a mobile device? Instead of local multiplayer should we consider online multiplayer? Is the game not rewarding enough in terms of feedback, or is the game not desirable to play at all?

    All feedback is appreciated, we know very little how other people play this game.
     
  3. Kirbyrawr

    Kirbyrawr

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    I installed the game, looks cool but i have no idea how to play, you should put a tutorial.
    Also the main menu i think it should have some graphics of the game instead of circles, but that's only my opinion, it looks good but it feels empty.

    You should consider putting some kind of monetization in the future, something not intrusive, or a pay version.

    Multiplayer will be fun i think so if you have time and you can do it, yes go ahead.

    And no more i think, the graphics are cool but if you want the people to play put a tutorial and maybe some achievements or ranking system

    Good luck, and i know that getting no feedback at all make the people sad, but for example in this case i only saw the game today.

    Edit: i just saw that you don't want to put a tutorial , forget about the minimalism, in this case is really needed.
     
  4. primus88

    primus88

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    Ok, here goes my feedback.

    1. Incorrect promoting. You advertise the game as a space shooter. I fail to discover any elements that could categorize the game as such.
    2. No tutorial or information. I played only for 10 minutes as I couldn't understand what to do. The interface and the game mechanics are not common, so you should not expect people to know how to play the game without a tutorial.
    3. A multiplayer only game without actually investing in advertisement and player retention in order to attract more players it is bound to fail. It's a vicious circle. If players don't find other players to play with, they wont play the game. You need that critical mass to have enough people online at one point to get the ball rolling.

    Bottom line is that the biggest miss is the confusing game description and the lack of tutorial, which is also confusing.

    Good luck.
     
  5. Freaking-Pingo

    Freaking-Pingo

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    Heey thanks for the feedback, it is much appreciated. We have discussed that a tutorial wouldn't be necessary, because we aim for a non-tutorial experience, however, as you pointed out, the game is not intuitive enough. We might continue with designs in the attempt to achieve a non-tutorial experience, but in the game's currents state, I agree with your feedback, that a tutorial is heavily

    @KirbyRawr Combined with @primus88 feedback on lack of retention, I think you point out features which could be desirable such as achievements and even ranking systems. I am a sucker for achievements, so that is surely a possibility, but these features aren't the more related to single player content? Wouldn't this require single player content.

    @primus88 1. The incorrect promoting, I will argue that this game is still a space shooter per my own definition, but you are not the first to comment on this, so I guess there must be something to it. We will see this into this being changed.

    2. I agree, and as @KirbyRawr also stated we need a tutorial. This is surely something which we will add to our tutorial game.

    3. I really enjoy you provide feedback of the game's retention, for to be fairly honest, we haven't had much thought into that. Any advice on this point? Is single player content an approach here, because that is what we have thought of. However, this would require a butt haul of work, but if that is the way to go, then it is the way to go :).
     
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  6. Kirbyrawr

    Kirbyrawr

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    Well even if we gave you feedback it doesn't mean you need to do all the people say but in my opinion yes i think that you can first expand the single player with more content, i don't know what you have in mind but i think it's something good so yeah go for it, expand the single player give the character freedom to choose.

    About if it's a game of space or not i don't know so i'm going to shut up, haha.

    It doesn't require a lot of work trust me, well of course all the things need time and work but don't fear that.

    Wish you good luck sir!
     
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  7. primus88

    primus88

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    [QUOTE="Freaking-Pingo, [/QUOTE]

    I usually trust when people complain about this and that. We, as developers, immerse ourselves too much into the project, it becomes too familiar for us, up to a point when things feel very simple, clear and intuitive, while in reality this could not be the case.

    From my point of view, with a single player experience, you hit two birds with one stone. You can have the single player as an extended tutorial and a way to attract people in the beginning when there wont be many players online at the same time. Sure, this would require an AI, but I think that overall it would be worth it.

    You can do a lot of things in multiplayer. Add achievements, unlockable fluff (like skins, sounds etc), faster game making, etc.
     
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  8. Freaking-Pingo

    Freaking-Pingo

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    I think you both bring up some valid points, and I really do appreciate the phrase "Two birds with one stone". To me, that sounds like how Star Craft 2 utilize their campaign and multiplayer, that the campaign is an advanced tutorial for the multiplayer content, which have proven to be somewhat succeseful.

    I will be bringing this feedback to my partners, and we will surely have a discussion whether to implement a single player feature, but based the comments given, I am in favor of having a single player mode.
     
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  9. Kirbyrawr

    Kirbyrawr

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    Keep us updated ^w^ and good luck!
     
  10. JamesLeeNZ

    JamesLeeNZ

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    you always need a tutorial, no matter how simple the game. Even flappy bird has some form of tutorial

    learnt this lesson a few times now.
     
  11. Freaking-Pingo

    Freaking-Pingo

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    Oh well, I can't even remember flabby bird having a tutorial, but yeah, we surely have stumbled upon an issue related to lack of tutorial.
     
  12. JamesLeeNZ

    JamesLeeNZ

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    its subtle. the little tap + ghost image.

    its not much, but its still a tutorial in teh simplist form