I watched DeltronLive's playthrough and I'd say the two biggest problems with this map are
1) It needs to allow access to the controls throughout the map and not just from the loading screen. If the player doesn't catch the controls or forgets some of the controls they need to have access to a controls page.
2) The game needs a hud of some sort. The player shouldn't be required to non-stop check the menu to see how close to death the banshee is, how much fuel they have left, or how much ammo they have. These values should be available to the player while they are playing.
This game is really unique. I hope it gets further development and gets polished up. It could become a really awesome game.
Another suggestion would be to have the game auto correct for aiming. What I mean is if the player's aim is a little off, it should still fire directly on top of an enemy unit which is sufficiently close. I think that change would properly compensate for the odd controls present in the map. This idea is used a bunch in FPSes on consoles for a similar reason.
Also having a reticle showing where the banshee is going to attack would help making attacking enemies much less frustrating. I believe DeltronLive suggested this in his video as well.
Hello, thanks for feedback.
1) Control,controls,controls =) To be done by adding ingame tutorial and help.
2) Hud ruins remake concept, but can be done in future maps, where I will not make level based on original game. Maybe its a negative side of original game series?
Auto correct of fire is compensated by splash damage of rockets/missiles and even small splash range of machine gun. In the original game machine gun really had some auto targeting and even tuning (by selecting copilot between missions). Copilot saving is secret mission in map. But in this map it opens hidden fuel and ammo on map. Maybe I will add machine gun auto aiming a bit. Not sure may it distract players from better aiming? Aiming cursor is done atm.
About design of Wachcom - I really missed it. When I looked in fonts listing, I wanted to close it as faster as I can. While you have idea in mind you can loose it while selecting font from 1000 list =)))
Though Trieva wrote much more, and his posts are in common about gamedisign, i can only tell that agreed with all. Ingame tutorial and help will be done.
Maybe this is an example of game literacy, I dont know...
edit: [In regards to game literacy: To me the controls felt intuitive (except in A/D in watchcom). WASD are move controls in sooo many games. JKLIOP is not so common, but also a reasonable option for putting your other hand. They are nicely grouped, which makes it easy for me to remember what is what: JKL row: attacks from strongest to weakest. IOP row (I would have preferred UIO) is the 'others' grouping. Strafe might have had a nicer place on 'space' you can use either thumb while pressing multiple buttons and because it is a movement control.]
Now to the actual critizicm of the map:
- As people have pointed out before, there are controls which are unusable for some (numpad) and some which are hard to find (A/D in watchcom)
- I would prefer the strafe to be a toggle instead of a hold button. If it isn't have to grab something like: two move keys + hold 4 + 1/2/3 to shoot what I try to target
- a targetting reticle would be nice (could it change color if over an enemy? I am asking because of the battlecruisers for which it is not directly clear where to shoot), maybe also have it as a toggle. An alternative solution could be a lock on as in dark souls and then you switch through the targets with some keys (although I suspect this is not the preferred solution since it is in an arcade tradition)
- The controls are not that bad (then again, I am someone who played through dark souls on keyboard only, so who am I to judge usability of controls). Maybe reduce the effect on the controls a little. Also, something people might have missed: there is an automated turn towards items to pick up. Maybe increase the range on this a little.
- The Watchcom (tab) is a good design in that it is economic to make and still looks quite nice! But as others pointed out, I also would have preferred minimap/ammo/fuel to be on the mainscreen in some way (maybe arrange them as togglable on the edges of the screens as if they were displays in an actual attack helicopter).
- What would have been great is a log, which let you display all previous communications. In addition to above suggestion, you could put the other half of your UI (unit stats, item decriptions, etc.) together with the log into a briefings screen.
- I didn't end the map in victory, because I couldn't figure out where to bring the orange container, before running out of fuel+lives, which I presume is the last thing you need to do before winning. (log for communcation pls. Or another method of making (some) objectives easier to look up)
- since tutorials were brought up, after the initial check sequence you could have like a mini-mission, which makes the player check his systems before starting. This means like a prompt: check that fuel and ammo are loaded [hint to press tab for watchcom or the respective key to turn on ammo and fuel hud in my above suggestion]; check briefing link is working: prompt player to use A/D to toggle through targets and 1/2/3 to display info on it.
- The controls are easy to remember, but you are probably gonna have to give people a screen where the controls are listed Banshee Field Manual! let them feel they are being unprofessional pilots by being unprepared (meaning: do NOT make them feel unprofessional, it is gonna come and bite you, as satisfactory as it may feel at first).
In conclusion: Coyc, if you are reading this, I feel your pain in having to spoon feed players and make sure they never get unconfortable, sadly this is part of the audience and you kind of have to design for it (ok, now I am really done ranting). What would actually keep me interested at this point, would be more difficulty. I feel like I don't have to worry about being shot down (even without banshee cloak). I think what is there actually is nicely crafted for the most part!
Hello, thanks for feedback mate
I will try to understand this material in video, in my level of english =)
Controls will be announced to player ingame.
Strafe is ment to be used in fight, so if player suddenly presses it it locks turning. It can be cause of damage of Banshee. Maybe it should be moved to WASD or even binded to Shift? Did you like to use it? How often did you use it? Would you use it more if it was in toggle mode?
Target cursor is made, but there is no auto turn to pickup items and not planned to do. Maybe you fast pressed A or D while ending to move? It causes to turn almost without controlling aircraft.
Log of communications would be great, thanks for idea! Maybe I will put it in Stats button (Renaming it to Comm/Stats), its almost empty of content.
Mission with orange container can be done by taking it a bit South-West of western Goliath base. There are 2 flags on map if mish is on. One flag is container itself, second is the point. Point has red smoke signal in forest. Dont forget to cleanse area of enemy for ghosts feel safer =)
Great idea to make tutorial as pilot-banshee testing! This will put player deeper in role of pilot. Thanks!
And there is harder mode now as you wish! =) Added armor to enemy, also some turrets. Trucks are moving faster, Battlecruisers turn faster, surgeon mish has fun surprise, ghosts mish a bit reworked (closer to original game), but not much harder (since you have not seen it yet, you will not see difference). Fuel drums and ARB are halfed in map. Also there is only one life! ^^
Here's my playthrough of this map. Let me know if you have any questions.
Banshee Strike Playthough
Great video! Thanks alot for it! I watched it with feeling like: Come on, its here, just a bit to left! Yeahhh!!!!
But mess with bridges is my fault. Though I put two markers on map (map markers should be more bright), I should write "BRIDGES" instead of "bridge" in Watchcom. There are two bridges to destroy...
Strafe is ment to be used in fight, so if player suddenly presses it it locks turning. It can be cause of damage of Banshee. Maybe it should be moved to WASD or even binded to Shift? Did you like to use it? How often did you use it? Would you use it more if it was in toggle mode?
I mostly moved forward and backward to the target while being rotated correctly. I didn't use it in combat for the most part. I think a toggle switch would have been more helpful. Binding it to shift would also be a good idea, I think. The space and ctrl keys are also good candidates for this kind of stuff.
but there is no auto turn to pickup items and not planned to do. Maybe you fast pressed A or D while ending to move? It causes to turn almost without controlling aircraft.
Hmm, strange. Maybe some collision effect? I don't know.
I will try to understand this material in video, in my level of english =)
Most of it is about using special games to teach at schools. But it has some relevance for us, too, I think.
I will try to summarize: Same as you have to learn the letters to read books or forum posts, you have to learn how to play games. In this case it is about how to use a controller for example, or what terms like XP or HP mean. Using WASD for movement is also a common case of game literacy, many, many games use it for movement control, but not every player is literate enough to try this first.
I played through dark souls on the WASD + IJKL combination for the two hands. I am literate in double hand keyboard control. Many players won't be, because they didn't play games like dark souls without a mouse or actually use a game controller for it.
Game controls are part of game rules, are ment be learned too. Maybe even by first part.
I did not play Dark souls, but heard from a friend that this game plays its player instead of vice versa =)
Version 1.4 released!
-Added Watchcom and aircraft basic control tutorial.
-Added keyboard map to Stats page of Watchcom
-Fixed WASD, added backwards turning
-Added HP, fuel, load indicactors. Num0(M) toggles them constant or when attacked only
-Added machine gun visuable bullets
-Some grammar fixes
Version 1.5 released
-Tweaked WASD again
-Changed machine gun bullet model
-Small bugs fixed
Version 1.6 released
-Fixed tutoring screen border
-Fixed U and O buttons work
-Added second mission animations at completion
-Terrain is reworked a bit
Version 1.7 released
-Fixed minor control bug
-Added Space as Watchcom alternate button
-Watchcom is redesigned
-Fixed targeting cursor on turning
Version 1.8 released
-Fixed start menu english locale error
Hello, thanks for feedback.
1) Control,controls,controls =) To be done by adding ingame tutorial and help.
2) Hud ruins remake concept, but can be done in future maps, where I will not make level based on original game. Maybe its a negative side of original game series?
Auto correct of fire is compensated by splash damage of rockets/missiles and even small splash range of machine gun. In the original game machine gun really had some auto targeting and even tuning (by selecting copilot between missions). Copilot saving is secret mission in map. But in this map it opens hidden fuel and ammo on map. Maybe I will add machine gun auto aiming a bit. Not sure may it distract players from better aiming? Aiming cursor is done atm.
About design of Wachcom - I really missed it. When I looked in fonts listing, I wanted to close it as faster as I can. While you have idea in mind you can loose it while selecting font from 1000 list =)))
@Trieva: Go
Though Trieva wrote much more, and his posts are in common about gamedisign, i can only tell that agreed with all. Ingame tutorial and help will be done.
Hello, thanks for feedback mate
I will try to understand this material in video, in my level of english =)
Controls will be announced to player ingame.
Strafe is ment to be used in fight, so if player suddenly presses it it locks turning. It can be cause of damage of Banshee. Maybe it should be moved to WASD or even binded to Shift? Did you like to use it? How often did you use it? Would you use it more if it was in toggle mode?
Target cursor is made, but there is no auto turn to pickup items and not planned to do. Maybe you fast pressed A or D while ending to move? It causes to turn almost without controlling aircraft.
Log of communications would be great, thanks for idea! Maybe I will put it in Stats button (Renaming it to Comm/Stats), its almost empty of content.
Mission with orange container can be done by taking it a bit South-West of western Goliath base. There are 2 flags on map if mish is on. One flag is container itself, second is the point. Point has red smoke signal in forest. Dont forget to cleanse area of enemy for ghosts feel safer =)
Great idea to make tutorial as pilot-banshee testing! This will put player deeper in role of pilot. Thanks!
And there is harder mode now as you wish! =) Added armor to enemy, also some turrets. Trucks are moving faster, Battlecruisers turn faster, surgeon mish has fun surprise, ghosts mish a bit reworked (closer to original game), but not much harder (since you have not seen it yet, you will not see difference). Fuel drums and ARB are halfed in map. Also there is only one life! ^^
Great video! Thanks alot for it! I watched it with feeling like: Come on, its here, just a bit to left! Yeahhh!!!!
But mess with bridges is my fault. Though I put two markers on map (map markers should be more bright), I should write "BRIDGES" instead of "bridge" in Watchcom. There are two bridges to destroy...
I mostly moved forward and backward to the target while being rotated correctly. I didn't use it in combat for the most part. I think a toggle switch would have been more helpful. Binding it to shift would also be a good idea, I think. The space and ctrl keys are also good candidates for this kind of stuff.
Hmm, strange. Maybe some collision effect? I don't know.
Most of it is about using special games to teach at schools. But it has some relevance for us, too, I think.
I will try to summarize: Same as you have to learn the letters to read books or forum posts, you have to learn how to play games. In this case it is about how to use a controller for example, or what terms like XP or HP mean. Using WASD for movement is also a common case of game literacy, many, many games use it for movement control, but not every player is literate enough to try this first.
I played through dark souls on the WASD + IJKL combination for the two hands. I am literate in double hand keyboard control. Many players won't be, because they didn't play games like dark souls without a mouse or actually use a game controller for it.
@zuPloed: Go
Game controls are part of game rules, are ment be learned too. Maybe even by first part.
I did not play Dark souls, but heard from a friend that this game plays its player instead of vice versa =)
Version 1.4 released!
-Added Watchcom and aircraft basic control tutorial.
-Added keyboard map to Stats page of Watchcom
-Fixed WASD, added backwards turning
-Added HP, fuel, load indicactors. Num0(M) toggles them constant or when attacked only
-Added machine gun visuable bullets
-Some grammar fixes
Version 1.5 released
-Tweaked WASD again
-Changed machine gun bullet model
-Small bugs fixed
Version 1.6 released
-Fixed tutoring screen border
-Fixed U and O buttons work
-Added second mission animations at completion
-Terrain is reworked a bit
Version 1.7 released
-Fixed minor control bug
-Added Space as Watchcom alternate button
-Watchcom is redesigned
-Fixed targeting cursor on turning
Version 1.8 released
-Fixed start menu english locale error