Comments for CS4455 Fall 2013

Comment on Dark Hole Sun by Elise

Elise — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 20:15:47 +0000

BTW here’s a place where you can playtest the game in it’s full screen size: http://lmc.gatech.edu/~eprado6/Slughole/BUILD.html ;^)

Comment on Telegraph Investigation Alpha by Anshul Bhatnagar

Anshul Bhatnagar — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 14:48:39 +0000

This is a pretty cool game. I agree that the power-shot to spamming needs balancing. Maybe allow the user to hold a fully loaded powershot for a couple of seconds while restricting their movement speed. This gives the other players a better chance at aiming but at the risk of getting sucker-punched.

Comment on Team RTP: Game Log 1 (Alpha Demo) by Anshul Bhatnagar

Anshul Bhatnagar — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 14:44:46 +0000

Agree with David 100%. Also maybe try and remove collision between the King and his army. He gets stuck in too often.

Comment on Team Outbreak: Game Log, Week Two by Anshul Bhatnagar

Anshul Bhatnagar — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 14:41:25 +0000

I enjoyed the feel in P4 and the added interaction with the zombies is a good step forward. You can maybe add limited battery life etc causing the user to look for these resources while fending of zombies and trying to survive.

Comment on Alpha by Anshul Bhatnagar

Anshul Bhatnagar — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 14:38:30 +0000

Also maybe increase the speed at which the boxes fall when you get to the later parts to increase difficulty. The endless one was a lot more fun and with scoreboards might have a higher replayability.

Comment on Alpha by Anshul Bhatnagar

Anshul Bhatnagar — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 14:35:26 +0000

This game has real potential. The challenging nature of the game is super motivating. Maybe experiment with the user having the need to change the balls to different modes (stone or wooden) due to some need. It might be over-kill considering the user is challenged as it is. But my only worry is once someone masters the control then there isnt a lot of variety for him.

Comment on Lavalor: Alpha by Anshul Bhatnagar

Anshul Bhatnagar — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 14:31:50 +0000

I agree with David. The sinking into lava feeling is something that needs to be conveyed. Also since there is a shadow warning the user of the incoming box, maybe ask the user to not stand under it. Also try and experiment with mouse as an alternative to rotating with A/D and fixing the camera behind the player. That might give the user better control.

Comment on Team Groose 11/4 Alpha Game Log by Anshul Bhatnagar

Anshul Bhatnagar — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 14:26:42 +0000

It was fun playing the game although it needs a bit of balancing which is fine. The ranged attacks were too op right now. So maybe come up with a mechanism to balance it out. Good work.

Comment on Alpha Game Log: CERNO’s Escape by Anshul Bhatnagar

Anshul Bhatnagar — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 14:15:34 +0000

I like the avatar and other assets. Try and lock the mouse onto the screen so that it is easier to control. It will give you the ability to reduce the floatiness.

Comment on Alpha Game Log by Anshul Bhatnagar

Anshul Bhatnagar — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 14:03:49 +0000

I would recommend a different control stream to rgb as you are not used to those keys. Maybe use ASD and show the chars on the box. The game itself is challenging and fun once you get hold of it. Also a better use of color and lighting in the next builds will help the user’s visually.

Comment on Not Ready Yeti – ALPHA Game Log by Anshul Bhatnagar

Anshul Bhatnagar — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 13:56:38 +0000

The game looks good. The Yeti looks good too especially the animations. The movement are still a bit rough to control but I guess that is what you expect from an Alpha. Just focus more on that part now because the feel of the game will be decided by that. Good job till now.

Comment on Game Log by Anshul Bhatnagar

Anshul Bhatnagar — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 13:48:48 +0000

I really liked the character (looks like a super hero dog) and its movement feel. The speedup is palpable. The level design also supports the 2 speeds in most parts which is great. Maybe consider rebounding off the walls and sling-shotting in the opposite direction for the climbing part. That would be cool, to not having to break your speed for skilled players.
I know you have a lot of interactions planned for the beta, so looking forward to those.

Comment on Reality Flux Alpha by Anshul Bhatnagar

Anshul Bhatnagar — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 13:41:09 +0000

Great work guys. You have networking working, which is great. Just focus on more on the movement of your characters now. Get more movement options to add variety). Also mini maps would help. Think about adding some objective also that cause the players to go on a sub mission or cause them to gather at a point to fight out for an objective.

Comment on Gravity: Alpha by Anshul Bhatnagar

Anshul Bhatnagar — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 13:33:43 +0000

I really enjoyed the game and the idea. One suggestion about the controls, maybe reduce the speed and increase the floaty-ness of the characters like asteroid. Right now it is too responsive I think. Give the space like feel. Experiment with it and see what you like.
But a good start. Look forward to the beta.

Comment on Game Log 11/4 – Alpha Build (Dragon in Distress) by Anshul Bhatnagar

Anshul Bhatnagar — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 13:29:11 +0000

I like the round the tower motion and the character (although dont spend more time on the avatar for now and focus on interactions). There are a few bugs which cause the dragon to fly off the screen and not respond to the controller. David makes a good suggestion about the flapping motion feel. That is interesting. But the game has good potential so looking forward to more in the beta.

Comment on Alpha Release (October 27 – November 2) by Anshul Bhatnagar

Anshul Bhatnagar — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 13:17:28 +0000

The alpha is progressing well. I agree with David, there is not much of a reason to use drain. Also play around with the idea of having more movement speed on your character than the enemies. This will give better map coverage for the player and allow him to fight at multiple ends.

Comment on Week 1 (10/28/2013 – 11/4/2013) with Alpha Build by Anshul Bhatnagar

Anshul Bhatnagar — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 13:07:37 +0000

I loved this game when I had played it in P4 and it is even more fun now with the competition. I think the best part about the game is the sound. The rest is also great but that sound brings it home for me. I would recommend adding some variety. Some sort of way to block your opponent or disable him so that the player has to make a choice between going for a point or stopping the other player from getting one.
Overall great fun, good job.

Comment on Unnamed Project – Log 1 & Alpha Playtest by David Chi

David Chi — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:50:24 +0000

The alpha is relatively simple, but I think I can see where you guys are going for. Make sure you guys really get the movement down for the your character and also figure out how aggressive you want your main enemy to be. These will be key things you didn’t really get a chance to address in your alpha that you will need to do some playtesting to get right.

As of the moment, the movement feels fine but without the enemy obstacles it is tough to say.

Comment on Telegraph Investigation Alpha by David Chi

David Chi — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:43:33 +0000

Game feels really good and is fun to play. The main thing here is that I find myself less trying to charge a shot and instead just keep spamming the hit button. Maybe offer some type of punishment for that? Also a more visual indicator of when the player is in danger of falling off would be good. Finally, trying to figure out which hand to use (left vs right) was kinda not too intuitive.

All in all, awesome game and it was a lot of fun!

Comment on Team RTP: Game Log 1 (Alpha Demo) by David Chi

David Chi — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:41:36 +0000

The game offers surprisingly deep gameplay. If you add control over your army, that would definitely feel better instead of kinda allowing your allies to snake around you.

The level design will be important to consdier here since your placement of enemies and allies is not strictly affected by distance (there are no time restrictions), so it’ll be a simple matter of finding more people before hitting the next enemy army. Maybe putting some pressure to find allies before a certain time runs out will add another level of depth to the game.

Good job!

Comment on Team Outbreak: Game Log, Week Two by David Chi

David Chi — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:39:06 +0000

Game feels good. I like how the light/dark component affects the gameplay. I would work on the shooting atm as the aiming feels awkward with the area of shooting. Maybe allow the user to release the mouse at any time to provide a blind, inaccurate shot, and/or allow the person to shrink the aiming cursor down a single line to make it more obvious of where/when the player will shoot.

All in all, good fun game and I’m looking forward to the next iteration!

Comment on Alpha by David Chi

David Chi — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:35:09 +0000

This game was surprisingly fun! It definitely is challenging as we have the player constantly focusing back and forth between both sides of the screen. I would recommend you make it more obvious what are the materials the balls are, and for that matter; make it more apparent that the balls can be made of different materials and these aren’t just color differences.

Good stuff, and I’m looking forward to seeing the next iteration!

Comment on Lavalor: Alpha by David Chi

David Chi — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:30:13 +0000

The game is a lot of fun and works well in its alpha state. There are 2 notable things though:
1) The powerup seems difficult to use and it is not entirely too intuitive what it does. Improving the feel here would help.
2) It is difficult to tell if we are sinking into the lava or if the lava is rising. Adding a sky box or other relative objects would help with this and improve how the player perceives the virtual space.

All in all, good job!

Comment on Team Jumpster 11/4 Alpha Game Log by David Chi

David Chi — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 19:28:48 +0000

The shuriken throwing will probably need to be improved, but right now it is okay (should just click to throw, but I’m sure this is just a technical bug atm). The wall jumping feels REALLY good and was a lot of fun. I look forward to seeing that being implemented in game play. The light dark works well in your alpha, but try to get the game to interact with it more than simply just turning a mandatory platform or something.

All in all, good job and I’m looking forward to seeing your next iteration!

Comment on Team Groose 11/4 Alpha Game Log by David Chi

David Chi — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 01:41:56 +0000

Game feels fun, and a big part of this will be how your super-ki mode feels. On top of that, there doesn’t seem to be much of a point to use the melee attack and instead just stick to ranged attacks. Maybe use an energy bar to limit usage of ranged attacks or increase range/strength of melee attack.

Looking forward to seeing your next iteration!

Comment on Alpha Game Log: CERNO’s Escape by David Chi

David Chi — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 01:21:56 +0000

The game feels good, with a lot of potential for cool movement and feel. Right now, it feels too floaty, so you may want to cut down on that. Also, the speed boost could probably be better implemented.

Otherwise, I really like the feel of picking and throwing things up. That part feels really good and is quite fun.

Comment on Alpha Game Log by David Chi

David Chi — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 01:08:29 +0000

The game is quite challenging and fun once you get the hang of the controls/mechanics. I recommend a tutorial level or something to get people aware of how to play the game.

Also, maybe some type of mapping of colors that’s easily seen on screen could help out. I found the hardest thing for me was remembering the contorller to color mappings without stepping through it in my head.

All in all, very cool, and I’m looking forward to seeing the next iteration!

Comment on Not Ready Yeti – ALPHA Game Log by David Chi

David Chi — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 01:06:21 +0000

This game was quite fun. I like the interactions you can have with the environment and the throwing feels quite good.

A few notes:
-How will the yeti’s interact when they run into each other?
-What will prevent people from just kicking objects over to the other side?
-How will players know how far/where they are throwing other than just blindly guessing?

Maybe having some type of cursor or doing a hold to throw farther mechanism would work well. All of these are important things to consider in defining how your game feels.

All in all, good job, and I look forward to seeing your next iteration!

Comment on Game Log by David Chi

David Chi — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 00:57:21 +0000

The current movement feels really good (like sonic games). The speed boost also feels really good, but maybe a way to continuously do the speed boost and without having to release the forward button would be cool (just my opinion on that).

Other than that, make sure your level promotes this fast forward movement. Maybe allowing people to slide up walls if they hit them? Good work though, keep it up!

Comment on Reality Flux Alpha by David Chi

David Chi — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 00:55:42 +0000

Game is a lot of fun, but the movement could still be improved to feel better. Maybe re-mapping controls as well as working on a more fluid way to move up and down would help a lot.

The spells are fun to shoot, but the homing seems rather aggressive. Maybe tone it down a bit?

A mini-map could work too. All in all, cool stuff and looking forward to see the next iteration!

Comment on Gravity: Alpha by David Chi

David Chi — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 21:29:55 +0000

The game feels very good, with several potential options to take right now. You can either have the space ships stay very nimble, or have them become more drifty. Additionally, the interactions with the planets and black-hole could be developed so more.

All in all, it’s a solid start, but deciding and solidfying what you want to do with those things listed is going to determine how people play the game (more defensive vs aggressive). I really like it so far though and keep up the good work!

Comment on Game Log 11/4 – Alpha Build (Dragon in Distress) by David Chi

David Chi — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 21:28:05 +0000

Good start! My suggestions for your game so far is work on your falling/flying movement. I think that’s a key part of the interactions you will have in your game. Right now, it feels very floaty. Maybe increase gravity, and having flying such that each jump increases height a bit, so it feels more like a flapping motion to get yourself higher.

With the flying mechanics further developed, I can see this being very fun. Keep up the good work!

Comment on Alpha Release (October 27 – November 2) by David Chi

David Chi — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 21:25:59 +0000

Your alpha is coming along nicely. I like the controls and everything feels good. I look forward to seeing what kind of other game-mechanics you will implement.

Right now, I don’t know if there is a huge motivation to use the life-drain, so maybe put some other type of incentive in the game to make it more viable an option to play the game. Also, the powerups are too far out from the center to justify getting them (they aren’t particularly strong, and if you leave your king the bad guys usually win pretty quick).

All in all, good job and keep up the good work!

Comment on Week 1 (10/28/2013 – 11/4/2013) with Alpha Build by David Chi

David Chi — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 21:24:14 +0000

Your game is incredibly fun and I can see myself playing this for a very very long time. As I mentioned to you in class, it would be cool to have some type of event occur when the two crickets collide (like a button smash event or something like that). It would definitely add another element of gameplay that makes it not become stale.

The sound playing when you are holding down the mouse is a great idea, in that it allows me to gauge how far I will go without really paying attention to the lines and let me focus on where I’m aiming. All in all, good job.

Comment on Alpha: Angry Cuttlefish by David Chi

David Chi — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 21:22:03 +0000

Your game is coming along nicely. I really liked the art-assets. I also think the power-ups you have so far are nicely tweaked such that they are not completely too powerful, though I would still watch out for some of the powerups becoming too powerful (like the ones that increase the size of the ink).

Good start, and I look forward to seeing what happens when you go into “full rage” mode (something I think will be key to your game).

Comment on P3 bluederby – Dreamy Yeti by Seong Pil Yoo

Seong Pil Yoo — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 19:36:54 +0000

You did soooo great job! I cannot really say anything that wrong. First when I saw this, it looks not like real(it looks like minecraft) so what is this? but when I tried your functions, I was so surprised. I want to learn how to do these stuff!
Especially, when yeti goes to dreamy stage, yeti ride the cloud and goes upward. Also when you click the shift, you can make the snow pole. I like this!

Comment on Anger Management by Michael Zipp

Michael Zipp — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 19:26:39 +0000

I can definitely get the aggression aspect, but I have no idea what animal you were seeking. The controls also felt a bit weird. I could only hit one sphere the first time I played, gaining quick turning but having nearly no ability to jump. Maybe giving a little bit higher jump value would help, or the ability to have more control midair.

There wasnt any real indication of the controls so I wasn’t sure what orbs had what effects.

Comment on demmel3 – G “Mirror” Kats by Michael Zipp

Michael Zipp — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 19:19:37 +0000

The game is simply but fun. I got the feel of joy definitely once the meerkats got close. You could see the difference in their motion. However, it was a little confusing sometimes when I’d be dancing without being able to see the other meerkat. Maybe putting a vision field in to limit the dancing to only while they see each other.

Comment on P3 bluederby – Dreamy Yeti by miningzen

miningzen — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 19:16:41 +0000

The directional light really helps apply sharpness to your enviroment, and the simple animations really mesh well together to help the feel in the game.

Comment on dbyassmith – The Joyful Meerkat by Michael Zipp

Michael Zipp — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 19:11:27 +0000

The dance and sound effects are fantastic! I also enjoy the bright atmosphere of the level.

However, there are a few minor issues I had. First, it’s kinda hard to actually change view. Maybe try using GetKeyDown or GetKeyUp instead of just GetKey? That way you only trigger the change once.

Also, the camera seemed to be off to the side most times. Instead of moving straight, I would move forward to the left.

Last, the animations seem to be a little off. The meerkat looks great, but then during the dance the tail and hands stay completely still in world space, rather than moving with the rest of the animation.

Comment on The Angry Yeti by vicky

vicky — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 19:04:14 +0000

Good work! I really loved the animation of yeti. The angry expression, the fire ball on horns is great.

The walk sound goes sometimes, like when you are walking and jump.

The yeti eating humans is also very good addition, and the whole concept of the demo is good.

Liked the whole thing 🙂

Comment on P3 – Baby Monkey Riding backwards on a Pig by sirnightfury by Vander Onasi

Vander Onasi — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:55:25 +0000

Wonderful job, quite unique. I love the motion of the scared monkey, hiding his face in his hands and waving his arms screaming. I know, 100%, this monkey is scared to death.

Something about the background song makes this game really fun to play, because the monkey is scared, but I, the pig, am really enjoying having my lil baby monkey. I love my baby monkey and I have little regard for how scared he is. Haha. Great game, cool environment, great motion.

Improvements? Maybe the pig’s legs could move? But this was about the monkey’s motion, so no big deal. The pig could also use a tail–I see it as a sheep really.

Great feel.

Comment on fl11630: Monkey Scared of Heights by miningzen

miningzen — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:51:36 +0000

I was not expecting the monkey to actually become subtly harder to control the higher you got, I love your implementation. I wasn’t expecting you to have a background you couldn’t access, as well as an invisible wall, but i appreciate those more than a reset key.

Comment on Scaredy cat meerkat by speedball

speedball — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:49:44 +0000

The motion of this meerkat is great! It definitely conveys a “scared” feeling. When it is moving forward, it rushes nervously. When it’s still, it’s turning back and forth on the lookout. When you’re simply rotating, he is “cautious” and moves slowly. The background sounds are great and realistic. The lighting and the environment really match the “situation” of your game well. There is a phantom of a noise as it is moving, and I’m not sure if I’m imagining it, but it would be good to have a soft rustling noise as it moves.

Comment on P3: Yeti Bully by Vander Onasi

Vander Onasi — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:48:59 +0000

The minimalist avatar is really cool. With only four pieces, you did a great job. I love the idle animation, and the grunting after a jump. I don’t really feel angry while playing the game–though I do feel terrifying. That has something to do with the screaming heads.

Great avatar motion, great sounds. I think the idle grunt should probably be played with a bit more time between grunts. Your jumping animation is good, too, especially due to the body wiggling.

Great feel.

Comment on vander: Dry as the Desert (Project 3) by David Byas-Smith

David Byas-Smith — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:47:19 +0000

I like the textures and environment. The music and sounds added to the dreamy feel but I’m not sure if the movement did. I guess a dreamy meerkat is a hard combination to really evoke but I liked the concept and understood the metaphor.

Comment on fep145: Aggressive Tendencies by sk92

sk92 — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:46:09 +0000

Excellent work on the avatar and its motions. The inability to stop forward motion would at first seem very helpful toward portraying the shark as aggressive, but the rate at which the shark moves in relation to its large environment makes the feel a little more relaxed. Aside from that small tweak, very effective feel overall.

Comment on Shark Car Wash by Vander Onasi

Vander Onasi — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:43:55 +0000

Either there is no car or I am an incompetent player.. I’m not feeling joyful after not being able to find anything.

Good job on the shark, the flip is certainly joyful, and the tail waving like a flag in the wind is pretty cool. I love the bubbles.

I seem to have a hard time going forward again after jumping.

Overall, a great avatar and motion. The environment could use some embellishment to match the shark. Good job

Comment on dbyassmith – The Joyful Meerkat by aatrox54345

aatrox54345 — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:43:51 +0000

When I finally found the meerkat’s home I cracked up! That dance and the sound effects made the whole hunt for it worth it in my opinion. I enjoyed the first person perspective and it really helped with finding the trees but I really wanted to be able to jump on the platforms in the game! Not too big of an issue, just something you might want to consider. I also felt the switch to from first to third person was a little buggy especially if I hold down the spacebar but I think that can be fixed with GetKeyDown like someone above me said. Anyway overall really enjoyed your game! Great job!

Comment on Scaredy cat meerkat by David Byas-Smith

David Byas-Smith — Mon, 30 Sep 2013 18:43:03 +0000

The slow head glance around the scene while the meerkat was stationary was a nice touch that added to the cautious feel. Having the scene be dark also helped to evoke the feeling. I like the change in the orientation of the character while moving. It made it more realistic. If you were to expand the prototype and there were enemies or predators I think you could do even more to show that feeling.