Games Demolition game - WIP - Looking for your thoughts and testers, feedback?

Hi khos, I downloaded/played the itch.io version.

Performance:
Seems to be ok. No issues on my 4-year-old "high-end" machine

Finished/polished state:
In my opinion the overall style and the abstract feel it has seems to be approx. 80% finished. It sort of makes me want to discover more, which I think is a good sign for a first impression. Furthermore, the blocked area (which seems to be the next level) is a good idea to emphasize this feeling.

However, the implementation of the game idea is in prototype state. I think there is still a lot to do to call it a beta version, mostly because the player movement needs to have a lot of polish (mouse movement too fast, feels kind of rigid and not dynamic, jumps are too long).

Besides platformers, first-person is probably the most used game mechanic and players are used to a certain standard. You are kind of competing with a lot of games in this regard What first-person games are you playing right now? There is a lot of subtle movement to consider that is not obvious right away. Study it by playing games with similar mechanics, watching videos and reading texts on how to improve that (if you're not already doing this). Maybe try to make a science out of it.

Another thing is the placement of objects. Honestly speaking, I felt a bit lost when trying to build something
Nonetheless, I would suggest to improve the player movement first to make a player feel more like being in the world and not just controlling something on a screen. Object placement is based on this, I think, and can be improved later.

After all, if you are just doing this to learn how to develop games, you shouldn't take my advice too seriously, but if you want to make a profit out of this game one day, there is a lot to iterate on.

BTW, a WebGL version is a good idea Making the process of starting the game easier is definitely a plus. This way you will also optimize on your project more naturally in terms of performance. On the other hand, if you do not plan to release on this platform at all, this could mean an extra overhead in terms of working on compatibility, which you probably don't want to have.

I'm also planning to showcase something, but the first playable version is still in the making... I'll let you know!

 

Hi CodeMilker, many thanks for your comments, very much appreciated.
I have not been updating this thread a for a while, but have been updating the game some what.

Performance on older machine, good! to hear!
I completely agree, this is still in "early beta".
In terms of the player movement, I'll work on that.
Have a host of upgrades implemented now (these appear as differently coloured cubes): e.g. faster running/sprint, faster grenade throwing, more fragments, large explode etc etc.

For the build system, I agree it is not there yet, I hope to make it easier by allowing objects to snap more easily, also add an option for having more objects to choose from, to build with.

Added a basic help screen at the start page, I think that will make it easier to understand what to do, e.g. for using the build system.

Added some motion blurring (might tone that down) but it does give a nice effect:

Some videos:
Rewind implemented so you can play back your explosions:

FlameThrower (if contact it changes object colour and shrinks them a bit, also explodes), I think you might have been interested in that part:

Still working on the Web GL version, I am not sure this will work well though, I notice in my early test builds that performance is not as good, also I have to up the memory use.
I would be more than happy to test/comment on anyone's game if you want me to, I think this forum is great as there are many good nature people like yourself that help each other, so would be happy to help where I can.

 

Quite a few things don't seem to work well in webGL for this kind of game, but here is a link anyway: https://khos85.itch.io/demolitionwebgl
It's not on a latest release at all (plus I had to change a few things) but if pass by this thread I would very much welcome and appreciate you giving this a quick go and your feedback on the game.

Note, I disabled the desktop version on https://khos85.itch.io/demolition , let me know if you would like that back.

 

Yeah, just tried it. Player movement and mouse are definitely... not that great. Too rigid, too difficult to move around quickly. Other than that, it's decent. I'll test again once that's improved. Could find a few free (or very cheap, like less than $10) controllers on the asset store to try!

 

Cool Carking1996 many thanks for your feedback
Mouse sensitivity has been updated (but not online yet). I'll consider a ready made controller.
Update coming soon.

 

Looks interesting. Maybe you can combine this with the actual gameplay (by giving the player the chance to undo an action for instance).

Not bad

Cool, but currently the cursor lock state restricts the player rotation. I think you should set Cursor.lockState = CursorLockMode.Locked and integrate your own mouse pointer with Input.GetAxis("Mouse X") and Input.GetAxis("Mouse Y"). Navigating the player is really difficult right now

 

Hi, for the WebGL it is true that the cursor jumps out I think if you full screen the webGL page it that issue does not happen.
Regarding the flamethrower bit, I'm thinking how to make the flames actually look like flames but in a line art / renderer kind of way, not completely finished, but the mechanics should be working
I'm planning to leave the rewind option available at any point in time, it will allow for 30 seconds of rewind time
One thing it will do is if you choose to use the rewind that some points are deducted too off your score. I noticed that this rewind option does take a large hit from performance (same as the OBI rope stuff, baaa!)... might need to consider if that option is kept in the game or not, I want a high performing game, so I guess the simpler the better.

 

I'm looking at changing the look and feel, just ever so slightly, I'd like to ask for your views, see what you think.

Some screenshots, see new look below, the difference is objects have very light/simple shadows and the edge detection is a much lighter grey, for a softer look:


Compared to the old look:


What do you think, is a yes this looks better to you, or no, just keep the old dark edge detection lines, and simple?

 

Yes, I think the style on the upper image looks less "aggressive" and more smooth. Apart from that, there seem to be more (grayish) artifacts along with the new style.

On the other hand, if the game is about destruction, a smoother style may contradict the actual emotions you want to evoke with the game. I guess it depends on what you're trying to achieve with the new style.

 

Thanks for your feedback, much appreciated. I'm considering to dynamically change the effect, when bombs occur then go to more dark/thick lines etc.

 

Been slowly adding some more features:
-Lasers, in doors or entrances, use those to blow up objects,
-Double layers on objects, leaves thinner bare object after bomb blast,
-Fuse, lay down a fuse (almost like layinggunpowder on the floor) which lights up and ends with a bomb blast.

Video:

Any feedback on these would be most welcome.

 

The fuse is a cool idea. I can't actually remember a game having something like this. The laser is not a bad idea either, but it doesn't really feel like a laser. Maybe there should be some big sparks and flashes when hitting an object (and not just the explosion).

 

Thanks Codemilker, the laser is not complete yet, needs sound and some other effects...maybe I was a bit to early to talk about that
Thinking of being able to hold a laser and just cut objects, like a limited energy hand held version (ermmm, light saber comes to mind?), or a mismatch of these beams bouncing all around randomly when fired/used, causing some damage.

 

Been slow going recently, but managed to add a couple things:
-Improve the fuse function, i.e looks and upgrades for this, at the end of each fuse there is a nice looking yellow blob (of explosive material!),
-Camera effect, shake at explosions (different magnitudes) and image effects momentarily change at explosion times,
--Added an ingame music player that can be turned on/off, just local to some areas of the game.

I think the fuse option might be a powerful / versatile method of destruction in this game.
Would welcome any feedback you may have on these

 

The camera shake looks great. The fuse function is cool, but maybe it should look like an actual fuse (not just white spheres but kind of black powder or a cord or something like this).

I like the in-game music player! It adds some sort of humor to the game, I think.

 

Thanks for your feedback, much appreciated!
Will work on fuse look, thinking to make look more round/continuous (now how do I actually do that, hmm maybe via line renderer between objects), might give it a different material, not sure yet.
Was thinking actually, the music player part can also serve as in game tutorials, how to, or even like a companion effect, giving well dones if you get a good hit etc. or just some chatter.

 

Hope it is ok to do, I would like to share an alpha version "trailer" for the game as it nears it's final stages:

I would love to hear you comments on the trailer, e.g. do you understand what the game is about? Is the text easy to read? I tried to keep it really short and hopefully to the point. I may add some music at the end, and a few extra seconds worth to show off some of the features.

 

The trailer looks really nice especially the slow motion when showing your title "Demolition".

I kinda worried about the pace. I like the mode of building and destroying but the pace is rather slow in that mode. The game should be action pur! You should do faster modes:

Countdown mode (this should be perhaps the main mode) :
I don't know if you already have it but I think a time mode with a countdown is a must with a local high score. Also you could do more levels and to unlock one you first have to reach a certain score in the previous level. So you could create a cool learning curve with the first levels being small and with limited bombs. Introduce the different bomb while progressing through the levels and make the higher levels bigger and more complex. So you can also create a feeling of exploration for the players and so they will play longer. Don't show all the cool stuff in the first level.

Block attack mode :
Instead of the timer you are not allowed to reach a certain amount of blocks. The system is spawning more things to destroy in waves and you have to try to survive as long as possible!

Free mode:
I think that is your mode now. Build and destroy and have fun without limitations!

 

Many thanks Gor-Sky for your great feedback , much appreciated!
I'm working on the trailer some more, the last part.
I realise the "free mode" as you mention might make it less existing to play, but there is a lot of strategy to this game actually, placing a bomb in the right place counts for lot!
To add, I have some modes implemented,not quite the same as yours mentioned, e.g. a timed mode where when the time is up your score is e.g. tripled depending on other factors like which upgrades you collected, and some others.

 

Nice idea with the camera dolly effect following the sparks of the fuse. The texts in the lower part of the screen could be shown a bit longer though and I think "Demolition" should be placed in the middle of the screen as it is the central idea of the game.

I guess I have a sort of tunnel vision by now as well, so I'm not sure if others can tell...

Like that mode too!

 

Thanks CodeMilker, appreciate all your feedback If/when I release the game I'll send you a free version of the game for all your replies. The text in the video I will consider changing some what.
"Nice idea with the camera dolly effect following the sparks of the fuse. ", that was actually recorded in game by just running next to the fuse while in game, took me a few attempts. I suppose a more cinemachine thing would have been nicer.

 

Appreciate that!

 

Made some minor changes to the trailer video, feedback would be most welcome

 

The slow motion is still very cool! I like the new trailer and the minor changes What really sticks out is the logo ... In a bad way after the slowmo I really was waiting for a super cool title popping out in the center with big stylish letters. And what I got was a tiny something with red boring flat letters. That doesn't justice to your project.

 

Ah yeah, I get it, I suck at making these things! I have an idea to try make things pop more.. now just to find software that will support what I'm after (like a cartoony POW type tile etc).. I'm using open source video editing software...anyone know of some good video editing software (ideally free)?

 

Hmm, maybe I can add the video to a render texture in Unity, use Cine Machine to add some nicer text , make it pop

 

I don't even think the pop is the most important part. I rather meant you should design a recognizable logo for your game. This is very important for marketing even for the first trailer. Almost all popular games have a very recognizable logo - think of Sims, Minecraft, FinalFantasy, WoW, Pubg, Fortnite, Pokemon... The pop is just the cherry on top for the trailer

I would try to do a logo which matches your game style (black and white and explosions are colorful). Perhaps you can even add a block or something. I don't know your budget, but you can search on deviantart and hire an artist to do that for you It isnt so expensive when it is a text logo.

 

Still searching for a good and free tool myself. Interesting idea with the Render Texture / Cine Machine approach

Good idea. Maybe building the name "DEMOLITION" with the white cubes and place an explosion in the center of it, if you know what I mean. Something like that...

 

I remember lightworks to be quite okay for video editing. You can even use Blender for it.

 

Just something I'm playing around with / testing.
There more they wiggle (based from bomb blast forces) the more points you get, but they don't last forever:

 

Looks definitely weird At first glance the wiggling looked like a sort of heat shimmering from the explosion.

I know it's just an experiment, but maybe you should combine it with something a player expects. It actually reminds me on a Tube Man. Just an idea...

 

Ha, maybe I'll add it as a build object.
You talk about tube man, could be possible to make:

 

Yeah, something like this. I think the arms and the body should wiggle significantly more (as the wiggling poles)

 

Updating demo:

Not many changes, just trying small things to make the text look a little bit nicer (to me anyway). Still working on it, slowly. Of course comments would be most welcome.

 

Although the appearance time of the black and white texts could be still longer, it looks much cooler now in general.

 

Thanks for the feedback Codemilker!

 

Working on the lasers some more, mostly the mesh cutting part, those lasers will cut anything:

Next looking to tweak the effects / explosion types / sounds for this

 

Wow - it is really cool that the shapes are getting cut in smaller pieces by the laser and not just destroyed! Did you write your own mesh cutting logic or did you use an asset for that part?

 

Hi, thanks for the feedback its a simple mesh slice/cut script that I modified to make it work they way I needed it to (e.g. handle more complex geo and when hitting colliders), seems to work ok so far.

 

Nice!

Can the player be sliced too? Maybe cutting the view in half...

 

Hi, interesting thought,Maybe some way to initiate multiplayer, or spawn duplicate versions of the player (might be confusing), or just show some cracks in the camera view..

Been adding some more ways to setup bombs , a reflect bomb, set the line that reflects of walls or objects, also added option to push/pull objects around:

Comments are most welcome of course!

 

The object pulling reminds me on the gravity gun from Half-Life 2. Maybe you can get some more inspiration from that.

I'm not sure about the "reflect bomb". It looks kind of interesting, but it's hard to make use of it once the reflection enters an area that is not visible to the player. Hope that helps.

 

Cool, thanks CodeMilker! I still want to get some kind effect added for the pull/push beam, make look nicer. The reflect bomb may have some use, such as being able to lay a bomb around a corner (where you can't see) so as to make it easier to keep your distance and avoid injury. almost like a remote laying of bombs. You can set the length of the bounces using the mouse scroll wheel.

 

Development has been slow recently but currently playing with platforms and pulleys,

Planning different areas that open up as your score rises, e.g. a platform and pulleys area to play with.
As always I would very much welcome any comments or your thoughts.

 

Looks cool, but I wonder what benefit this might have for a player in terms of scoring. Or is it more like a "reward" (because of a higher score)?

 

Hi, sorry for the late reply. Thanks for your comment, this will likely to be a level that unlocks once you reach a certain score, a level with different types of pulley systems. I could make it add/multiply scores the more you interact with them.

 

After some time I have been able to list Demolition on Steam!
Link: https://store.steampowered.com/app/467650/Demolition/

Would love to hear your thoughts, or if you like it to add it to your wishlist.

Feeling quite excited, happy and a bit scared, just hope people like it
Onto focus more of the marketing, which I have not clue at.
I welcome any questions or comments.

 

Nice, how many levels will there be in the first Steam release?

 

Thanks for the comment, Sorry for the delayed reply, initially there are three levels/areas, depending on score reached those open up. I'm going to be adding more though in updates. The price of the game will be quite low (is 2 dollars low?). But I am hoping the number of levels may not matter too much currently, it is what you do in the levels that counts, you could just stay on one level and have fun there. Also I'm hoping to release as early access so there will be room for improvement if players give feedback.

 

Don't undervalue yourself. Make sure your game works flawlessly, provided few hours of gameplay, and charge 10$ at least, for very basics.
Then when you gain popularity and add extra features, increase the price. Unless you want go DLC route, for which, I am not fond of.