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dani128

Feedback comments for LD16

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Timestamp	Since previous	Game	dani128's comment
		Dark Fire	Couldn't download it as of 2nd January. Please host somewhere other than mediafire? It looks really impressive.
		Fuck Oregon let's go find El Dorado	Is there an alternative download location? I can't access it - connection keeps timing out. <br/>Edit: Finally managed to download. <br/>I think this is the most entertaining game I've played this compo. Am seriously hoping it will win.
		Apocalypse Adventure	I like it, but it's really hard AND unforgiving. Died a few times (note to self: don't bring a pistol to a machine-gun fight) and gave up. This is so big it really doesn't feel like a 48-hour game at all. It feels like it could have been a commercial shareware release from the mid '80s, before development budgets swelled to ridiculous levels. Kudos!
		Robot Wants Kitty	Would have been nice to get more use out of the air dash. Still, this is really good. <br/> <br/>Also, I suspect I have been playing too many artgames - was waiting for the other shoe to drop and the game to announce "Robot has genocided two peaceful races of acid-based lifeforms in its quest for kitty."
		Penguinagain	It's an extremely beautiful set of lock-and-key puzzles. I really dig the art and the chiptune BGM, and the feel of moving around is good, but the gameplay left me - pun not intended - a little bit cold. The part which struck me as smart was how the wooden block had multiple uses - if the game had more of those "aha!" moments it would be so much more interesting. Also, the use of Pengy Pan to cue the player into the possibility of physics was very smart - well done on that score.
		In The Field	The game is impossible to lose if playing carefully, or even if not playing very carefully - as such it lacks a strong sense of agency. It would be helpful to add some impetus for the player to enter the danger areas. I suggest randomly seeding "treasure" on each board (possibly in areas which cannot be entered), and scoring the player on treasure picked up vs. time taken. This forces the player to make tough decisions on grabbing treasure vs. clearing the level. You could also make the danger areas do gradual damage (possibly partly random) rather than killing the player outright, so as to make the decision-making process more involved. <br/> <br/>In the end I'm not sure whether this is a good idea, but my rating will take into account the fact that you only spent 7 hours on it. For 7 hours it is definitely really impressive. If you had spent double the time to enhance the gameplay, this might have been a contender for best game.
		EchoExplorer	I like the dialogue and concept - it's cute - but the gameplay itself didn't do it for me. Sorry. It would be interesting if you added a couple of puzzle elements - possibly with more NPC bats?
		Tower Quest	Not sure it really appealed to me, but it does have decent mechanics and a nice progression hook. I wasn't too interested in continuing after reaching the level with the homing enemy - perhaps make it a bit slower?
		Legacy of HYDON	Everything I want to say about art has already been said. As for gameplay, it would be better to have a few monsters or classes of monsters with unique gameplay abilities, rather than a large number whose only distinguishing attributes are power and speed.
		Do you see it? I saw it	Found the uberbug. I think this is a bit stronger than your average treasure-hunting sort of gameplay because the objects in the game pretty much give you a very strong hint of what kind of bug you can expect to find. I wasn't expecting something very interesting but was pleasantly surprised.
		Gallery	I like the concept, and the execution doesn't outlast its welcome. Would have been nice to have more variety, but that would of course have been pretty time-consuming. One complaint: guy doesn't jump high enough, except on that one level where he doesn't need to.
		Authentic Space Exploration	Didn't run for me (not going to install Chrome just for this - sorry), but I suspect the people who are complaining it's boring simply don't get the joke. Were you inspired by Terry Pratchett?
		towlr: EXPLR	The original Towlr gave very clear feedback as to how each game element worked. All the information was there, and the interpretation was as straightforward as it could be without using text. This one is not like that, which is a shame. I found the dragon and the borders of the maze, but the exact function of the timer is still a mystery after dying many times, as is the method of defeating the dragon.
		Adventure Quest	Hamumu's got a point - the player here is mainly a healbot. I'd suggest three major improvements: <br/>(1) A targeting cursor to indicate which baddie the adventurer is going after, and some feedback on the baddie's level and abilities. <br/>(2) Improved targeting interface which is pausable and allows mouse control. With XNA you can implement mouse picking using Viewport.Project() and Viewport.Unproject(). <br/>(3) Rock/paper/scissors with the weapons - you know, like Fire Emblem - so that there's a compelling reason to decide on certain targets rather than others.
		Phish world	I have a soft spot for melee "shooters" - actually made one before - so this is interesting. Main thing is that the physics are difficult to handle. If I were to make a ramming game like this, I'd probably go with an Asteroids-style control system instead (left and right steer the ship, up accelerates, down brakes). Also, why do the bullets follow you for such an incredibly long time?!
		Heli scout	Pity about the collision detection, because the concept seems quite interesting. Also, your elevator event doesn't seem to trigger properly. On the first run, I couldn't trigger it and enter the second map. <br/> <br/>Conceptually it is interesting and very much on theme, though. Can I suggest you plan ahead before the next LD and create a library (or find a free one) to handle troublesome stuff like collision detection? I did that before my first LD and it really helped.
		Planetary Explorer	For what it's worth, I'm going to go out on a limb and say you probably shouldn't have done 2 separate games. The shooting portion was definitely a lot weaker than the exploring portion - the controls are too "squishy" because the ship doesn't brake or accelerate fast enough, its maximum speed is too high, and it has different movement speeds in the vertical and horizontal axes. The inclusion of a high score table is also a little odd and doesn't fit the exploration concept. Better to enhance the exploration gameplay - possibly with enemies or some puzzles to solve - as I thought that was a lot more interesting and fun than the shooting.
		PATHWAYS	Peculiar little piece. Not very "gamey" but somewhat interesting nonetheless.
		Amke's Revenge	It was a decent experience - I rather liked the atmospheric nature of the piece, with the contrast between the cave and the desert. You made a very smart design decision by making the player exit in different directions rather than continually proceeding left to right - this does help the sense of "exploration". <br/> <br/>However, I think you were over-generous with the checkpoints. This has had two unfortunately detrimental effects: first, it renders the thirst system irrelevant, as the player almost never runs out of water before he dies. Second, it also allowed you to be too strict with the jump timing and climbing mechanics, since the player can just bulldoze his way through and respawn in the new area when he dies. <br/> <br/>Overall, it's not exactly earth-shaking but still a pretty enjoyable way to spend a few minutes. Good job!
		Mars Rover	I believe the "repeat until water found" instruction should terminate when the robot is unable to repeat the instruction. Either that or it should terminate the program altogether. All the other comments here apply, except that I didn't have much trouble figuring out what the robot was up to at any given moment. <br/>Also, I feel like it would be more interesting if each instruction had an associated energy cost, and you had to make the program work without running out of energy. This could also be used to introduce interesting dilemmas like tunneling through a hillside vs. climbing over it.