hey ken, I encountered a problem with the game not too long into my play-through. I accidentally clipped through a wall that led me to the outside and when I tried to get back inside I fell into an abyss of clouds with no way to get out and had to restart the game. besides that major issue, I found the gameplay fun but was a little confused at the start on what I was meant to be doing, possibly adding in a small tutorial would be helpful.
keep up the great work and good luck with the game!
Hello Ken. As you've asked for feedback I am going to try and give you as much info as possible as that is what I would want if this was my game :) First off, this is a nice place to be. The palette, the models, the movement are all well designed and feel nice. Also, I am certain that anything useful I am about to say had probably already crossed your mind as I am aware that this is a very early version
In hindsight, even though I read everything... I was a bit thick. I went around the house and the garden and discovered I really could not do much and could not find any nodes. Took me a while, even though I read the instructions to discover the 'x' button. Aha! I thought, now we are getting somewhere. Then I lost about 5 to 10 minutes trying to link a cable to and from a red and yellow square. I figured i was doing it wrong. Was it a left click and then a drag? Do I just click once left and then once right.... nothing was working. Then.. I smashed a wall and realised that now I could actually see the nodes. After then it all fell into place. I started to make progress and start to power things up nicely. Then my conclusion was... ok... easiest way to play this is the smash up every wall and ceiling. Then I can see all the nodes, and then connect it all up, repair everything and hey presto!
The trouble is... as soon as I came to that conclusion... I thought... well this isn't fun. It just feels like a grind. Hmmmm. So... suggestions...
Firstly, to deal with plebs like me I think you should start off in a dark room. The garage perhaps and it should be really obvious that a specific switch needs re-wiring, it leads you to the switch, and tells you to bust the wall. connect two nodes, do a repair, and bam, the lights are on and you know all the mechanics.
Now to make it meaningful... Each problem should be worth money. Every repair and cable costs you money. Do a job with few repairs and few cables you make lots of money. If you end up having to repair lots or are inefficient then, well you probably lose money. With money comes upgrades. I suggest vastly reducing the effectiveness of the 'x' button and perhaps making its power work only within a set distance. Your upgrades can increase your range. Also, perhaps at the start, it can only see through the plaster. Later, wood, metal... dunno. Also, I am not sure there could be any existing cable nodes. perhaps the player should install those too?
So... to make it a fun chaotic game, perhaps you have a time limit, changing customer requirements that come in as you do the job.
To make it a puzzle game perhaps give the player the ability to lay electric cable, network cable, hot pipes, cold pipes, wastewater etc. No cable/pipe can cross another and in each room, you have a range of things to connect. Like a 3d version of those untangle, or connect games that are usually 2d.
Anyway, the game is off to a solid start! It is really gratifying to see things work once they are connected. Looking forward to playing it in the future and seeing how it develops
Wow, thanks for the feedback! Truly, it's a huge help
Your comments about the overall fun of the current gameplay loop are right on the money. Figuring out how to take these basic mechanics and turn it into an fun game is going to be the hardest part of this process, I think. I'm good at programming, and sound design, but game design on anything larger than a game jam is a new experience for me.
I've added your suggestions to my pile of game design ideas. Now it's time to try a bunch of stuff out and see what people enjoy. I think the next step is to make demo levels in different styles and mechanics and see what works.
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hey ken, I encountered a problem with the game not too long into my play-through. I accidentally clipped through a wall that led me to the outside and when I tried to get back inside I fell into an abyss of clouds with no way to get out and had to restart the game. besides that major issue, I found the gameplay fun but was a little confused at the start on what I was meant to be doing, possibly adding in a small tutorial would be helpful.
keep up the great work and good luck with the game!
Thanks, friend!
You're right, a tutorial or some guidance would probably be helpful. I'll keep that in mind as I work on the overall game design.
Roughly where in the house did you clip through the wall? I'll go take a look at the colliders heh
Hello Ken. As you've asked for feedback I am going to try and give you as much info as possible as that is what I would want if this was my game :) First off, this is a nice place to be. The palette, the models, the movement are all well designed and feel nice. Also, I am certain that anything useful I am about to say had probably already crossed your mind as I am aware that this is a very early version
In hindsight, even though I read everything... I was a bit thick. I went around the house and the garden and discovered I really could not do much and could not find any nodes. Took me a while, even though I read the instructions to discover the 'x' button. Aha! I thought, now we are getting somewhere. Then I lost about 5 to 10 minutes trying to link a cable to and from a red and yellow square. I figured i was doing it wrong. Was it a left click and then a drag? Do I just click once left and then once right.... nothing was working. Then.. I smashed a wall and realised that now I could actually see the nodes. After then it all fell into place. I started to make progress and start to power things up nicely. Then my conclusion was... ok... easiest way to play this is the smash up every wall and ceiling. Then I can see all the nodes, and then connect it all up, repair everything and hey presto!
The trouble is... as soon as I came to that conclusion... I thought... well this isn't fun. It just feels like a grind. Hmmmm. So... suggestions...
Firstly, to deal with plebs like me I think you should start off in a dark room. The garage perhaps and it should be really obvious that a specific switch needs re-wiring, it leads you to the switch, and tells you to bust the wall. connect two nodes, do a repair, and bam, the lights are on and you know all the mechanics.
Now to make it meaningful... Each problem should be worth money. Every repair and cable costs you money. Do a job with few repairs and few cables you make lots of money. If you end up having to repair lots or are inefficient then, well you probably lose money. With money comes upgrades. I suggest vastly reducing the effectiveness of the 'x' button and perhaps making its power work only within a set distance. Your upgrades can increase your range. Also, perhaps at the start, it can only see through the plaster. Later, wood, metal... dunno. Also, I am not sure there could be any existing cable nodes. perhaps the player should install those too?
So... to make it a fun chaotic game, perhaps you have a time limit, changing customer requirements that come in as you do the job.
To make it a puzzle game perhaps give the player the ability to lay electric cable, network cable, hot pipes, cold pipes, wastewater etc. No cable/pipe can cross another and in each room, you have a range of things to connect. Like a 3d version of those untangle, or connect games that are usually 2d.
Anyway, the game is off to a solid start! It is really gratifying to see things work once they are connected. Looking forward to playing it in the future and seeing how it develops
Wow, thanks for the feedback! Truly, it's a huge help
Your comments about the overall fun of the current gameplay loop are right on the money. Figuring out how to take these basic mechanics and turn it into an fun game is going to be the hardest part of this process, I think. I'm good at programming, and sound design, but game design on anything larger than a game jam is a new experience for me.
I've added your suggestions to my pile of game design ideas. Now it's time to try a bunch of stuff out and see what people enjoy. I think the next step is to make demo levels in different styles and mechanics and see what works.
-Ken