[ DEVLOG ] RacketBoy! - A block breaking Cute 'em Up.

[DoubleDash]

Greetings ,everyone!!

First of all, I apologyze for not introducing myself or my team,I couldn't find a "introduce yourself" post. If there is one, please let me know
Anyway,we are a small dev team from Brazil,and we're working on a game that mixes block breakers and shmup elements. The game was developed in 72 Hours for a game jam that happened from July 17-20 , but the product turned out pretty fine,and we intend on turning it into a full game.
But even tough I always liked shmups,I never tried to learn about them in competitive terms,the way real fans of the genre would. And this is what I'm looking for in this forum. I want you guys to help me mold this game into something you would someday be interested in playing through,even trying to 1cc it. It won't be as bullet-heavy as other shmups,but the fact that you depend on returning balls to destroy your enemies gives the game another type of challenge as well.And I hope you find it interesting

So let me tell you a bit about the project!

First of all,you can play it here : http://gamejolt.com/games/racketboy/80383
This is the jam version




RacketBoy is a mix of cute 'em up and block breaking games.
Unable to shoot, you can only count on your trusty laser racket to bounce back enemy attacks.



The game starts up feeling more like a block breaker than a Shmup,but difficulty ramps up with time.
you get closer to a small bullet hell after a little gameplay time.



And on it goes!! This is the first version of the game,with very little time of work put into it,but we want to start from here and make it into a full product. We're thinking of a final product with a decent ammount of levels,giving an arcade feeling to it, a good level of challenge,boss battles and trying to explore the bullet-returning mechanics as well as possible , while maintaining a Cute 'em up nature to it.

And in that part I would like your help,guys! I know that here I can find experienced players who will provide me good feedback,suggestions, and all kinds of help. I really want to make this into a project that people from this forum would want to play, so I hope I can count on you. Please be patient ,as I'm trying hard to learn about the ropes of Shmups players, the terms,the challenges you like,everything that makes you be a part of this forum

Please feel free to play the game , leave us some replies with whatever you think of it,and it will be of great help to us. We will be working as much as possible to make this project better , and we really hope you enjoy it!

We're also on indiegogo now, trying to get the funds to create our steam version! help us by spreading the word or contributing, it's up to you
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/rack ... 118#/story

Thanks a lot for the attention,and I hope to hear from you guys!

[Lord Satori]

Oh, a indie vs gamers game? Well best of luck!

I might play it later on, it sounds like a neat concept! I'm not the person who'd be able to give you technical advice though.

[DoubleDash]

Oh, a indie vs gamers game? Well best of luck!

I might play it later on, it sounds like a neat concept! I'm not the person who'd be able to give you technical advice though.

Thanks , Satori, I hope you like it when you play! But don't worry, I'm not looking exactly for technical advice ( even tough it's always welcome ) . I'm more interested in player feedback, to make this game an interesting challenge for Shmups fans
So yeah,please play the game, let me know what you think, what you like about the game,what you don't like,what you would like to see in it,that kind of thing. That's the biggest help I can get Thanks a lot!

[Dave_K.]

Welcome DoubleDash! Here is the self-introduction thread on the main forum.

Wow, this game has a lot of detail for something made in 72 hours. Amazing artwork and direction with plenty of nods to coin-operated games. Your 80's TV commercial is also quite polished!

One very minor issue is I didn't know space bar is used to insert coin / start game. Also the attract mode got stuck at the king manatee.

As for the game, I found it quite challenging. I didn't play it enough to see all the powerups, just the racket size, and would have liked to see some speed ups (both flying speed and racket speed). Maybe I just missed those?

Oh, and also the high score board wasn't working for me.

[Lord Satori]

I just played it (sorry it took so long) and I enjoyed it very much! I don't think I saw everything, but I really hope this game gets in the top 5.

[Ebbo]

I enjoyed pretty much everything about the presentation. The gameplay has this chaotic fun feeling to it but I'm a bit concerned if it's too chaotic because I seldom felt like I was truly in control. It's hard to determine accurately where the reflected bullets are going to bounce next. Quicker character movement could remedy this a bit or maybe the character could have a super shot that you can aim properly? I'm sure you'll figure something out, so good luck with the full game!

[Lord Satori]

Wow! It looks like you got first place! Congrats!

[o.pwuaioc]

Game looks cool, but that name, I can't help but think of the website!

[waiwainl]

Cool game, but indeed, first thing I thought about when I saw the name is the website.

[trap15]

Same.

[cave hermit]

I just played it, and I loved it! If this gets made into a full game I'll buy it in a heartbeat!

Regarding feedback, I have two points I can think of right now:

-The game takes a little while to really get going, as the first few stages are very slow and boring. I get that it's good arcade game design to have the first stage or so be fairly easy so new players can get into the flow of things and other players can warm up, but you could probably remove a few of the waves between the first one and the wave that introduces non-tennis ball bullets. This point is fairly subjective actually.

-There really needs to be some sort of scoring system to reward skilled play and raise replay value. Most obvious idea would be to add in a point bonus for destroying an entire enemy wave without allowing any to escape; the amount of points rewarded could depend on how quickly you dispatched the entire wave.

Another idea could be to give bonuses for striking or destroying enemies from certain angles, like maybe a small score multiplier for killing an enemy by hitting the ball into its side, and a larger multiplier for hitting the ball into its back?

You could have a score multiplier that increases or decreases depending on how many active balls you have on screen?

These are just a few on-the-spot ideas, but I'm sure there's more that could be done as well.

By the way, I like the little touches you added to really make the game feel arcade authentic (The diagnostic boot-up sequence, the announcer girl with the heavy japanese accent, etc.)

[DoubleDash]

Hey guys,sorry for taking so long to respond ,things have been crazy here,haha

First of all,I'm glad that the initial acceptance of the game is being mostly positive, it means a lot !!

Let me try to answer your comments here :

One very minor issue is I didn't know space bar is used to insert coin / start game. Also the attract mode got stuck at the king manatee.

As for the game, I found it quite challenging. I didn't play it enough to see all the powerups, just the racket size, and would have liked to see some speed ups (both flying speed and racket speed). Maybe I just missed those?

Oh, and also the high score board wasn't working for me.

First of all,dave , thanks for pointing me to the introductions Topic,I'll get on it soon enough.

The insert coin / start game button was a big mistake we made by not making it obvious to the player, so sorry about that, haha.
There are other power-ups, such as flying speed, and we're making a list of possible power-ups for the game,so please feel free to make some suggestions about them!

The high score board uses gamejolt.com API , so you had to play it online and be logged in to get into the leaderboards. We don't like it very much,but it was not optional for the competition .

I enjoyed pretty much everything about the presentation. The gameplay has this chaotic fun feeling to it but I'm a bit concerned if it's too chaotic because I seldom felt like I was truly in control. It's hard to determine accurately where the reflected bullets are going to bounce next. Quicker character movement could remedy this a bit or maybe the character could have a super shot that you can aim properly? I'm sure you'll figure something out, so good luck with the full game!

We tried to make it so that your position relative to the ball would influence it's direction. So hitting it from below would make it bounce a bit more upwards , hitting it from above would send it downwards,etc... We will definitely be working on making that "aiming" system more intuitive and responsive so you can feel like you truly have control over the ball's trajectory. I hope you feel better about it when playing an improved version of the game

Wow! It looks like you got first place! Congrats!

Yea we did! Thanks a lot We'll be using the youtuber's videos about our game to try and get people to support our greenlight and crowdfunding campaigns ( this one hasn't started yet ) , so please come support us too

Game looks cool, but that name, I can't help but think of the website!

Cool game, but indeed, first thing I thought about when I saw the name is the website.

Same.

Sadly we didn't know about the website,and don't want to be forced to change names. We're thinking about contacting RacketBoy's staff and discuss some ideas on how our game could help promote their site and vice-versa,so hopefully everything will turn out fine , hehe

I just played it, and I loved it! If this gets made into a full game I'll buy it in a heartbeat!

Regarding feedback, I have two points I can think of right now:

-The game takes a little while to really get going, as the first few stages are very slow and boring. I get that it's good arcade game design to have the first stage or so be fairly easy so new players can get into the flow of things and other players can warm up, but you could probably remove a few of the waves between the first one and the wave that introduces non-tennis ball bullets. This point is fairly subjective actually.

-There really needs to be some sort of scoring system to reward skilled play and raise replay value. Most obvious idea would be to add in a point bonus for destroying an entire enemy wave without allowing any to escape; the amount of points rewarded could depend on how quickly you dispatched the entire wave.

Another idea could be to give bonuses for striking or destroying enemies from certain angles, like maybe a small score multiplier for killing an enemy by hitting the ball into its side, and a larger multiplier for hitting the ball into its back?

You could have a score multiplier that increases or decreases depending on how many active balls you have on screen?

These are just a few on-the-spot ideas, but I'm sure there's more that could be done as well.

By the way, I like the little touches you added to really make the game feel arcade authentic (The diagnostic boot-up sequence, the announcer girl with the heavy japanese accent, etc.)

Those are all very good suggestions,and some of them were already in our to-do list, and some of them are brand new and will definitely help us

Thanks a lot cave hermit,glad you liked the game , and we're looking forward for more feedback on future versions of RacketBoy!



ANYWAY!!

Thanks so much, guys, the comments are being very helpful,that's exactly the kind of opinions I'm looking for here. I will constantly be coming back here with updates and trying to get some more feedback. I hope you will continue to help us,and that in the future we can launch a game that really pleases everyone here ( or most of you at least , haha )

[Kolba]

Brilliant game.

Love the bright colour scheme. Bullets stand out pretty clearly against the background, too.

Nice presentation in general. Everything works together.

One thing I didn't understand was the colour coding of the blocks - was it purely for visual variety? I would have them colour coded according to their strength, and change colour as they are hit.

I like the feel of the game, the timing of your attacks and so on.

Basically I think the base game is already solid, and to leap from a browser game into a steam game you just need to extend that base game.

Couple of ideas:

Endless wave after wave of the same thing, but a little harder each time, would get kind of boring eventually. Every couple of waves you could throw in a bonus stage, or a boss fight. Different levels, different backgrounds to signal progress. I'm sure you've already thought of these already. The game's mechanics throws up lots of neat ideas: playing a tennis match with a boss, he converts your bullets, you convert his; bosses with weak points at awkward, perhaps shifting, angles, etc.

And without making the scoring esoteric, some multipliers would be good. As was suggested above, bonuses for clearing all the blocks. And one idea I found myself wishing was in the game - if you destroy a block with a bullet, that bullet gains a multiplier, increasing with everything it destroys. This encourages the player to take more risks keeping that bullet in play for longer, and make otherwise easy waves still exciting for the experienced player.

Congrats on first place, it appears to deserve it (he says, without having played any of the contenders!).

[DoubleDash]

Couple of ideas:

Endless wave after wave of the same thing, but a little harder each time, would get kind of boring eventually. Every couple of waves you could throw in a bonus stage, or a boss fight. Different levels, different backgrounds to signal progress. I'm sure you've already thought of these already. The game's mechanics throws up lots of neat ideas: playing a tennis match with a boss, he converts your bullets, you convert his; bosses with weak points at awkward, perhaps shifting, angles, etc.

And without making the scoring esoteric, some multipliers would be good. As was suggested above, bonuses for clearing all the blocks. And one idea I found myself wishing was in the game - if you destroy a block with a bullet, that bullet gains a multiplier, increasing with everything it destroys. This encourages the player to take more risks keeping that bullet in play for longer, and make otherwise easy waves still exciting for the experienced player.

Congrats on first place, it appears to deserve it (he says, without having played any of the contenders!).

Thanks for the feedback and the support, Kolba! I specially like the "boss with shifting weak points". Boy, am I going to play with that concept!
The blocks have a random color, yes, but that was just a matter of time management during the game jam. They will have the colors defining their health, on the final version. The bullet kind of already gains a score multiplier, but it might be a little too limited/almost impossible to notice, so I'm going to give that system some improvements. I can't wait to get some more of the project done so I can show you

[DoubleDash]

Update #1

Racketboy gone Wide!

While exploring our options to optimize Racketboy's capabilities, we decided to expand the screen to a wider format. It doesn't affect pixel aspect on the graphics, and gives you more space to move around. Even though Racketboy is all about retro, every screen today uses a wide format, so it seems like a good change to be made. Also, players get more space to move around, we get more room to throw enemies at them, and it also increases the chances of having a co-op mode in the future
We made this short video to announce this change.


Dash as an evasive maneuver

Another big concern of ours is about Racketboy's mobility and evasive options. After all, the game does have a tendency to get filled with bullets. Shoot'em ups usually have either a huge bomb that doubles as a life saver, or some sort of gimmick that acts as an evasive maneuver, such as a dash or a shield.
I have discussed with some people here from the forum about the use of bombs and evasive maneuvers, gathered some good feedback, and after thoroughly considering our options, I think we chose the best one. Thinking about Racketboy's unique play style, we believe that giving him the ability to dash is the best option. It allows you to get out of danger quickly, and save that super ball that was just out of reach!




What about bombs?

Bombs are a big part of any Shmup, in my opinion. They always have huge destructive power, and most of the time they also double as an evasive maneuver, a last-resort sort of thing that gets you out of a tight situation. We weren't thinking about using the classic ultra-destructive, yet limited bomb style. Instead, we want to explore some possibilities that are more related to our game's mechanics. More specifically, related to the way you can supercharge a single ball. If you hit the same ball consecutively, it gets bigger, faster and stronger. The ball eventually reaches a "SuperBall" state and its properties change. That's where the concept for a Bomb comes in!
This SuperBall state will be our version of a bomb. Currently, when you supercharge a ball, it goes through every enemy. And while you manage to keep it on-screen, you will continue to be rewarded with all that destructive power. And yes, you can even get multiple SuperBalls on screen! So it's more of a skill-based bomb.
You can have as many "bombs" on screen as you are able to get, but the counterpart is that you don't have so much control as to WHEN you will activate that bomb. That all depends on how many times you have to strike the ball to supercharge it, and how fast you can do it. That's why the player will have the Dash as an immediate-response tool for emergencies.



We also want the player to be able to choose between an array of SuperBall abilities. Which means that you can have the piercing ball that already exists, or something more destructive like a ball that explodes into a massive laser; Or balls that spawn small explosions whenever they hit something, things like that. I would like to hear suggestions of SuperBalls, if anyone have a nice idea, so don't hesitate to bring it to us

Well, that's what's new for now, I hope to be bringing more updates by Friday, so see you guys then! Let me know what you think of Racketboy so far, and help us make it grow cooler and better ;D

[DoubleDash]

Update #2

The Buddy System

If you played our Jam version of the game, you might have stumbled upon some power-ups, such as Big Racket, Speed Up and Buddy. We noticed how people treated Buddy differently than other power-ups. Not only does he sticks with you untill you get hit, but he also looks friendly and people Sympathize with him a lot.
He functions very differently from other power-ups, so we decided to split them. In Racketboy, you will be able to pick up either a power-up, or a buddy, as different objects.

A variety of types

Buddies can be a powerful tool for the player. We believe it could be one of the most influential choices the player makes in the game. That's why we want to make sure it is a versatile resource. There will be several Buddies with different skills: Spawning balls, firing lasers, reflecting lasers, returning balls, attracting balls, the possibilites are vast.




The power of Choice

We want the player to be able to customize his strategy as he sees fit. That means allowing him to choose the outcome of a collectable Buddy, at his own risk. When a Buddy spawns on screen, he will be enclosed in a capsule, allowing you to see which one you're getting right away.



At that moment, hitting that bubble will change the Buddy inside.



The Buddy will become faster and more irregular with each strike, so trying to change it becomes an increasing risk, but with a worthy reward.

Evolution

There will be a limited number of Buddies per level. Picking up the same Buddy as you already have will increase it's level, up to 3, granting it better abilities.




A loyal protector

Not only does a Buddy helps you with very useful tools, but he will also protect you. Having a Buddy doubles as a shield. Being hit when having a Buddy causes him to die in your place.



That's it for today! I'm sure that you will make great use of our Buddies
Got any cool suggestions or opinion on them? Let us know!