Invitation to check out our in-dev shooter

[slashie]

Hello people!

I'd like to invite you to check out our in-dev shooter, ArcherFire!

It's a simple, light shooter, pretty easy to pick and play. It's also free to play.

I'd be great to have your feedback on how to make the game better!

You can find it at http://apps.facebook.com/archerfire

Thank you!

--
Slash
http://slashware.net

(mod edit - Since still in-dev, moved topic to Development sub-forum)

[slashie]

No comments?

We have lately released a new version with lots of improvements, I'm VERY interested in hearing your opinion!

[Udderdude]

Quite a few people here don't have Facebook, and those that do, don't like approving apps.

If you made a version that didn't require Facebook, you might get more of a response.

Most people here are only interested in very hardcore shmups, not "Fun social shooters".

[BPzeBanshee]

Agreed. I have Facebook but don't trust any apps for it, ever.

[Giest118]

I opened up the app, approved the thing, it loaded up to 100%, and I was greeted with a blue gradient and some buttons at the top. Nothing else was happening. I have a sneaking suspicion that the game didn't work.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

If you made a version that didn't require Facebook, you might get more of a response.

This. I'm not signing up for a shit website that wants me to dump all my personal info online just to play a shmup.

[slashie]

Sorry about that pals, I must have known

Anyway, here is the link to the kongregate version, it doesn't require signup (just click and play) http://www.kongregate.com/games/slashwa ... archerfire

There's also a gameplay vid here: http://youtu.be/hInwhZYwCHQ and here http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... wb4#t=712s

And some screenshots:






I'm aware the current version might be a bit easy for most of you, we are still tuning up difficulty Wave 8 onwards should at least be a bit difficult.

@Gies118: Very weird crash, what browser are you using?

--
Slash
http://slashware.net

[BareKnuckleRoo]

I turned it off after 5 seconds of playing. Why? Because you used the spacebar for attack. You know why modern doujin shmups use Shift, Z, X or A, S, D for shooting? Because modern keyboards do not handle multiple button inputs well and those buttons happen to mesh well with holding down the arrow keys (as in holding down Shift + Z does not interfere with the inputs from the arrow keys, so you can freely move in 8 directions while shooting). Specifically, when I'm holding down the shot button I can't move diagonally up-left; it simply doesn't register when I'm holding the spacebar.

Put in an options menu where you can customize the controls or something.

[slashie]

Thank you, we'll fix that for next version

[Udderdude]

Ok, I tried it. Honestly, this wouldn't even pass as a shareware shooter from 1992. After picking a bunch of random options, I was able to sit in one place in the middle of the screen and just hold down fire, barely moving to avoid stuff and nothing came at me but the same random wave of enemies shooting shots straight forward.

Trust me when I say pretty much anyone here is NOT your target audience for this game.

[slashie]

Thank you, I just started reading the "Index of Developer-friendly Topics" thread and I see we are far from having a good shooter for hardcore fans. We'll see what we can gather from here to enhance the experience for our users.

Edit:
Basically, we don't have levels. The game is mostly about surviving wave after wave of enemies. Each wave of enemies uses different weapons though, but that might not be enough of an incentive to play.

Further Edit:
After some bit more reading, I feel we just made the equivalent of an empty super mario bros level with random goombas coming in...

[cools]

Played the kongregate one for a bit.

1) Hitbox is larger than the ship. Enemy hitboxes are smaller. Bullet hitboxes are smaller.
2) Sprite size and movement speed vs play area mean it's massively difficult to avoid hits.
3) Collision detection isn't great.

Nothing wrong with a random shooter, but it needs refinement before it's anything other than an exercise in frustration.

[slashie]

@cools, how far could you get? I've been able to get as far as Wave 13 -- I thought it should be particullary easy for you hardcore players

[BareKnuckleRoo]

After some bit more reading, I feel we just made the equivalent of an empty super mario bros level with random goombas coming in...

It's at least a bit more interesting than that, but yeah, pretty much.

In retrospect, the not being able to move up-left while shooting wasn't a big deal as I could just sit at the left side of the screen moving up and down. Didn't make the game much fun though. Don't get me wrong, wave-based games can be fun, but even stuff like Geometry Wars tries to have some interesting patterns as the enemies spawn, or interesting patterns of enemy waves, etc. It's the same reason series like Touhou or Cave's games are popular; because fun to learn to master navigating the shot patterns the enemies and bosses use as well as where the enemies appear, etc. The way it is now just feels a bit too disorganized/chaotic.

A few other things that could do with addressing is stuff like actually saying what each of the character statistics does (perception?) and gatling should only have one 't'.

[Giest118]

@Gies118: Very weird crash, what browser are you using?

Chrome

[BPzeBanshee]

@Gies118: Very weird crash, what browser are you using?

Chrome

I'm using Chrome too and Kongregate worked fine for me. Try updating Flash.