Joe Zabriskie

Goats and Gods by Joe Zabriskie 2018-12-07T03:40:54Z

@eddie-li, @juliensnz, @sam-reid Thanks for the play! Glad you all enjoyed it :). @beats Taking that as a huge compliment, I'm a fan of D1 @neontropics I appreciate the feedback! I think you've hit the nail on the head. Fundamentally the gameplay "works", but as far as strategy, we could definitely give more options. I think the centaurs movement really illustrated how much more fun AI can be if it does more than just follow. Also the pacifist run is an interesting idea. Never even tried that during dev. @kloscunha I went and looked at LoK and you're right, that general gloomy vibe is pretty similar. Thanks for the play!

@everyone, I'll try to get out and play your entries

Clunky Ball by Karai17 2018-04-25T05:16:44Z

Nice work! Pretty solid work there. I was most impressed with the level design. Each one played with a different idea, you have a good variety of levels. I'd be careful with #9 #stacked, I was worried about falling on that one since I didn't want to go through the monotony of all the same drops again. Over all great work.

And I have to commend the sound effects, "Ohhh Nooooo" will haunt my dreams. Audio = 5

Controls on keyboard worked, but I could tell the gamepad would have been better. Wish I could reverse.

A Tale of Two Kings by Ango 2018-04-25T04:35:06Z

Love the art style! Good sound work too. Most of what I like about your game came from those two elements. If they matched up a little better I think it would make a big difference, e.g. instead of the hammering sound, play a crisp click sound when the new objects make contact and snap in to place. Anything to make them more cohesive.

Can't say I really enjoyed the RPS game play too much, but this was solid and complete!

Nice work!

Diorama by stefenism 2018-04-27T00:38:55Z

Nice work! Nice execution on that idea. I don't think I could have expected the mechanics to work so well and the level design to be so solid. I liked the difficulty ramp, the twists on old levels worked well to keep me surprised. Nice work on sounds and music too.

Can't think of much to add here, y'all did real gud

Boxing Surgery Simulator 2000 by ponywolf 2018-04-25T04:02:19Z

Nice work! Game looks and feels really good. Super crunchy.

Still don't know if I can help my boxer fight. Didn't seem to make a difference a lot of the time.

Super fun and easy to get into!

Tennis Defense by kassanu 2018-04-25T01:21:05Z

Great premise, and pretty darn well executed! You got a chuckle out of me when I hit the uprights and got a little *ding*.

I would have benefited greatly from a quick tutorial on how aiming works, but it is fairly intuitive. In fact I got the point pretty quickly about how this 3d pong like was controlled. I liked the perspective, makes you feel more like you're getting mobbed.

My main complaint is that some of the edge spawning zombies sure were hard to hit. A couple plays found me only dying to those lone dudes. I'm also not convinced that being able to aim vertically is necessary for this game. I could be wrong, but I think horizontal aiming might suffice and be easier for someone just jumping in.

Awesome job overall! I can't imaging tackling a 3d environment like you did. GJ!

Also thanks for the html link

Stand Clear, Doors Closing by shockeye 2018-04-27T02:46:21Z

I see a good solid foundation right here. Might want to lock the mouse to the screen, mine was tracking into my second monitor. Obviously there's more you want to add, but my suggestions beyond the obvious are to add door indicators for the map so I can plan my route better, give a bit more warning on what rooms are safe, and maybe add some other indicator as to where to go.

Nice work putting this together!

Lost Without You by jackrugile 2018-04-26T01:35:28Z

I was immediately struck by the atmosphere. The simple polished effects and the sort of haunting soundtrack got me involved immediately. Really set the mood of being lost. Game play was super fun! The feeling of seeing the other color around a corner was a fun surprise.

I feel like the first thing I would add would be more to the environment, maybe objects that can help you find each other. Might enable you to make some harder levels, give players more to interact with in the level.

Thanks for the great entry!

Iocus Navis by Ranzor 2018-04-25T00:47:37Z

Nice work! First impression just from the music playing set the mood well, overall kudos on the sound design. I also appreciated the death screen to tie in the replay in a way that makes sense. I was excited to see that enemies could shoot objects and each other. It made the gameplay area feel very dynamic.

There's a lot of potential in the gameplay that can be unlocked with just a touch of polish. The gameboard needs a bit more room to itself, the UI often covers up elements that the player needs to see. I'd love any way to see where hints at where objects are going to move and shoot so I can try to plan my moves.

I have to confess that I wasn't sure what was increasing my score and if I was trying to get somewhere or trying to stay in place and survive; I wasn't sure if there was an "end" to the game, or if I was shooting for a high score.

Great job overall! Great work with making a game with solid mechanics and compelling atmosphere!

2Musikewl 4Skewl by TheAioliGuy 2018-04-26T05:29:16Z

Nice work! Finally was able to make it outside lol. Nice work on the graphics/animation and music.

I mostly had trouble with the game systems. The moving to the beat worked well, but I coudln't figure out when/where I was supposed to move to avoid the janitor. Some sort of explanation of the mechanics in more detail would add a lot to this game.

Good concept and execution!

Deck of the Dead by Balance686 2018-04-25T04:15:44Z

Nice work dude! Solid entry.

I think I hit a bug though. I beat wave one then half way thorough wave two the zombies stopped spawning. I was relieved because it was getting pretty close.

I like the split thinking you have to do, keeping an eye on your position while still calmly solving puzzles. Nice work on the sound effects/music. Also the UI felt very slick and responsive to use.

Honestly I can't think of what more this game needs, seemed pretty complete. Good work!

Friends of Rose by Ripter 2018-04-25T04:54:26Z

Nice job getting this game together! I know these are just some default Unity assets, but you still did a good job putting them together. I only tried a couple of levels but the controls seemed pretty good. I'd prioritize a UI in the future so I can tell how many lives I've got. The level where I could sort of break through the wall felt extremely monotonous. I knew I wouldn't die, but I know it was still going to take a chunk of time, not the most exciting level design. Eleanor Rigby was a much better showing of level design.

In the future be brave with your programmer art. Keep pixel counts low and backgrounds.

Good work!

Modern Fairway 4: Spec-Ops in the Rough by Lost Dutchman Software 2018-04-25T01:11:12Z

Great idea, truly two incompatible genres lol. Title, premise and splash definitely got me interested.

I had trouble with the aiming sensitivity, and general UI usage acutally. The core gameplay would have been great if not for the crazy high sensitivity. I like the idea of getting your driver out (sniper), or putter(pistol), super funny.

I think this idea might be better served with a different aiming style. Here you spend so much time scoping in on the ground, rather than lining up a shot looking towards the goal. Don't know how you'd accomplish that, just a thought. Maybe make the ball huge? Easier to find/shoot

Overall super impressed you managed to get this all tied together. Guns felt good, player movement was solid. Great Job!

Math Blast! by Joe Zabriskie 2018-04-25T04:59:51Z

@edomin, you're totally right. Ideally these equations would generate themselves to make for more variety in levels. As is, levels are totally static, but V2 that's a priority to change.

Math Blast! by Joe Zabriskie 2018-04-25T05:01:41Z

@Linky439 You're right, I never experimented with different bullet speeds. It's particularly obvious since the level difficulty jumps so fast, but it does feel better with a more accurate shot, especially on later levels.

Thanks for the play and feedback!

Math Blast! by Joe Zabriskie 2018-04-25T05:04:30Z

@jackrugile I think you're spot on about the stars. I went for the space theme for the simple background, but the stars are very easy to confuse for a small projectile. That's a pretty easy fix as well ,just need the art.

Bullets sticking around is a known issue... shoulda made them children of the level. As is they're just as important as the gamemanager itelf

Thanks for the play and involved feedback!

Math Blast! by Joe Zabriskie 2018-04-27T21:56:12Z

@Lost Dutchman Software: I agree, I was straining to keep myself from adding more detail to all the visuals, but they likely are a first target for refinement, especially the noisy star background. V2 would probably see new background, more enemy ships, larger projectiles. Thanks for the feedback!

Math Blast! by Joe Zabriskie 2018-04-27T21:59:18Z

@Balance686, @shockeye I've been thinking on how to actually work the equation generation. Current levels are setup around knowing which target the player will be asked to shoot first. While I can randomize the problem, I was worried randomizing the enemy placement/movement would make for some levels that were too easy, and some that were unwinnable. But making enemy placement static, a player wouldn't even have to look at the equation. hmm... Food for thought...

Math Blast! by Joe Zabriskie 2018-04-27T22:03:13Z

@ThatSommeS Lol yup, when I added that "go" icon I knew it was confusing. I think it's still not apparent that it only tells you when the level starts after the initial delay. Should likely be replaced with a countdown or something more obvious. Also thinking that the "Start" button should be an enemy. I like the idea of having the player start the game by proving they know the controls, but I agree its not clear how to start.

Thanks for the feedback!

Math Blast! by Joe Zabriskie 2018-05-28T17:23:48Z

@Kwisarts Thanks for the feedback! This list is actually very helpful. I think you nailed the biggest problems here. Your last point about the visuals is spot on, probably the first thing I need to fix.

The invincibility frames are something that I haven't considered. Do you mean invincibility on being hit?

Math Blast! by Joe Zabriskie 2018-05-28T17:25:39Z

@jhandsy Thanks for the suggestion, something I didn't even think about doing! Especially a good idea in this setting for brief play periods. Appreciate the feedback!

Math Blast! by Joe Zabriskie 2018-05-28T17:27:19Z

@Crimson Thanks for playing! I agree, I really wanted to generate the math problems for each level. I ended up not having the time to try to make balanced randomized levels, difficulty was tough to control with random solutions. Hope to add this in. Appreciate the feedback!

Math Blast! by Joe Zabriskie 2018-05-28T17:30:12Z

@Blueman Totally, the bullets not de-spawning was the first thing I fixed, lol. You're the first person the mention the idle period as tedious. The intent was to give the player some time to survey the enemy position and math problem before starting, but I agree that it sucks not being able to move. I'd probably need a countdown and a wall blocking you from shooting/moving forwards. It'd feel better for sure. Thanks for the feedback!

The Mad Bulleteer by Diego Escalante 2018-04-25T04:28:54Z

Wowwww, this is super solid! This is a great example of how to make a complete game. Nothing feels like it was left undone. I like the difficulty progression, felt fair all the way through. Like the enemy design, easily recognizable. I like the leaderboard and UI design. Overall a great achievement!